


Worlds Collide

by ClaireStrife, OhJay



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Family, Alternate Universe - Siblings, F/M, Family, Love Triangles, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-08 00:19:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 51,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/754769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireStrife/pseuds/ClaireStrife, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhJay/pseuds/OhJay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Partner fic, post XIII-2 Alt. ending. Lightning goes missing once more, and when she does she leaves behind a family. Her son believes she is gone for good, but when his sister disappears as well he has no choice but to try and find them both and bring them back. However, what he finds is not at all what he had expected... Contains OCs, HopexLightxCloud, NoelxSerah, SnowxSerah, OCxOC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_**Prologue** _

Cocoon fell in 500 AF, but Bhunivelze soon rose after, and both the future and humanity were saved. Times of peace continued, and the heroes that had worked feverishly to to shape the future relaxed. Lightning returned from Valhalla, and was greeted joyously by her sister. They were both happy that they could be together once more. Lightning promised her that she would never leave again.

Hope, too, was overjoyed to finally see Lightning safe and sound again. His long search and desire to bring her back to them was over. At first it seemed like they would go their separate ways, for Hope continued to direct the Academy, while Lightning returned to the Guardian Corps. However, remembering the alternate time line in which Hope was killed inside Augusta Tower, she decided to devote herself as his personal bodyguard. She couldn't bear to see anyone close to her get hurt and unable to do anything about it.

At first, she assumed the role it just because he was an old friend and comrade, but as the two began to spend more time together and grew close once more, they developed a steady relationship. They kept it rather private, not wanting anyone to pry into their personal lives, but it became long term. Then, finally, he presented her with a silver engagement ring, with little diamonds designed in the shape of a lightning bolt.

They married in the spring of 503 AF, and had their twins two years later. A boy and a girl, as fate would have it. Both resembled their mother, with pink hair, however they did have their father's eyes. Ashling was the name given to the girl, while they named their son Rainstorm. Both of them would grow up to be strong, and want to follow in their mother's footsteps.

Their sister was born three years later, and resembled her father much more than her older siblings, for she had both his hair and eye color. Lightning decided to name her after her own dear little sister, and gave her "Faith" as her middle name.

Hope was overcome with joy from his marriage and growing family She wasn't sure if she had the patience for children, much less the right amount of time for them, but she and Hope had discussed it thoroughly before going through with it.

Serah on the other hand, set out on a search for Snow shortly after Bhunivelze rose and things seemed to quiet down. Noel tagged along, and Lightning helped when she could. However, he was never found. After months of searching and waiting for him, Serah finally accepted that he was probably stuck in another time, or in the Coliseum, and never coming back.

It was hard for her to move on, but eventually she tucked her engagement necklace away, and decided to carry on with her life. She went back to school to get her teaching degree, then, shortly afterwards, began teaching grade schoolers once more.

She had also grown close to Noel, for he had been there to comfort and support her when Snow wasn't around. A steady relationship soon formed, but unlike Lightning and Hope, they never got engaged and married. Still, they had a son in 515 AF. They named him Kristof, and he would grow to have a strong resemblance to his father, but he would always have his mother's eyes.

Unfortunately, that same year was when tragedy stuck upon them.

* * *

"I'll be back soon."

Lightning gave Hope a quick kiss before she left for patrol one night.

"Come back safe and sound."

"You know I will, Hope."

He watched her leave the house quietly, then he returned to his study to resume his work. It was late enough for the kids to be in bed, but because it was a weekend, he heard faint noises of a video game from Rain's room. It was typical of him, and since the father knew his son always kept the noise level down and would go to bed at a decent hour, so he let him be.

It was about an hour later when the phone rang. The sudden noise caused Hope to flinch a bit, and he wondered who would call at this hour. However, he knew it was most likely important, so he answered it.

"Estheim residence."

At first all he heard was soft sobbing, then two words that would change everything: "Serah's dead."

He felt his heart skip a beat as he took in Noel's words. He almost dropped the phone from shock.

"But how?"

"She had a vision, and it killed her. Something about Lightning."

"No…" Hope muttered, fearing for his wife's life now.

He heard Kristof start to cry in the background, and Noel immediately muttered that he had to go. As soon as he hung up, Hope dialed Lightning's cell phone immediately. He tapped his fingers impatiently on his desk as he waited for it to ring. But it never rang, all he got was a message that her number was disconnected or unavailable.

"No…"

His heart skipped a bit as he set the phone down and turned back to his computer. He started up a program he'd created years ago to search for paradox levels in the area. Naturally, he hadn't used it since the gates were closed. It took time for the program to connect to the Academy's database and scan the city, but he knew it would tell him what he needed to know. He just hoped he was wrong for once.

"No!"

He banged his fist on the table. The scan had finished, and the paradox levels were off the charts. Lightning had vanished once more.


	2. I Vanish

_**I Vanish** _

Rain never liked mornings, especially the ones where he tried to sleep in, but ended up being woken up by some soft noise. He was a light sleeper, and once he was awake, he was awake for good. That 'soft noise' today was his sister getting up in her neighboring bedroom.

No matter how quiet and soft her footsteps were, he always heard them. The young man groaned and rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep, if at all possible. It was too late though. He was awake, and , of course, he had to drag himself out of bed and to the bathroom.

Once that was done, he walked back to his room, and heard his sister at work in the kitchen, probably making breakfast for the two of them, before she headed out to school. He himself had finished with high school at seventeen, for he had been a bright kid, and not only put in early, but skipped a grade as well. Now he was tempted to follow in his mother's footsteps, and join the Guardian Corps in hopes to get stronger so he could protect people. However, his father wasn't too fond of the idea.

"I just don't want you to get hurt..." he'd told his sontime and time again.

And yet Hope was the one that ended up in the hospital. Nothing severe, but Rain knew he would've gotten away completely unscathed if Lightning was still around to protect him. Hope knew how to protect himself, but he still wasn't much of a fighter. A trip to Pulse for research out in the field with other members of The Academy had gotten him quite a few bad bruises and deep scratches.

Rain and Faith, of course, were both more than capable and mature for taking care of themselves while he was recovering for a few days, so they were left alone.

Grabbing a clean pair of black cargo pants, Rain slipped them on, followed by a navy blue muscle shirt. He ran a hand through his short, fluffy pink hair to check if it needed to be brushed, It felt fine. Shrugging, he walked out of his room and into the kitchen.

Faith was quietly at work with bacon and eggs for them both. She had put her long, silver, wavy hair into a high pony tail so it wouldn't get in the way, and was already dressed for school in her old hand-me-down plaid skirt from their late aunt, and a loose white long sleeved shirt with butterfly sleeves, and a short, olive green jacket over it.

"Morning, Kupo!" Mog greeted when he saw him, catching Faith's attention.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked.

"Nah, I was just ready to get up," he lied, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "Want help with anything?" he asked.

"I'm already done," she said, moving the breakfast she had made for them from the frying pan to the plates. "Although if you don't have plans, do you think you could clean up a bit? Dad should be home soon."

"Yeah I'll take care of it."

Housework wasn't really his thing, but he just needed to do some sweeping, vacuuming, and dishes- nothing he couldn't handle.

"Thanks, Rainy," his sister said cheerfully, getting a glare in return.

"Don't call me that, it's annoying."

She and Ashling had both called him "Rainy" ever since they could talk, and he disliked it from the beginning. When they got older, he had finally convinced them to call him Rain, just like everyone else did, but Faith still brought his old nickname up from time to time, just to annoy him.

"Oh fine, you're no fun," she said as she handed him his breakfast.

He sighed and shook his head at her as he sat down. He noticed an awkward silence had followed as they began to eat.

"Something wrong?" he asked a bit worriedly.

"It's just...It's been eight years now..." she said softly, sadness shone clear in her voice.

He frowned, then glanced over at the calendar on the wall. It was indeed eight years ago today that their mother had disappeared.

"I just wish she'd come home soon..."

"Don't start this again, Faith," Rain said sternly. "You should know by now that she's long gone, and not coming back to us."

"But-"

"She's gone Faith!" he snapped, making her flinch. "She ditched us! I don't know why, but she did!"

He regretted yelling at her the moment he saw the tears in her eyes. He was about to apologize when she suddenly stood up from her place at the table.

"I really hate you sometimes you know that!" she shouted before grabbing her book bag from the floor. She then ran out the door, and slammed it behind her.

He sighed as he slumped back down in his chair, and watched Mog silently fly away to follow his sister. As siblings, they had their fair share of arguments like this, and Rain was used to having her run out on him to get away for a while. Of course, then she would come back and they would both apologize and move on like it had never even happened.

Knowing they would make up after she got back from school, he quietly finished his breakfast, then got on the chores that she had kindly asked him to do. It was about two hours later when the house phone rang, so he stopped to answer it.

"Estheim residence, Rain speaking."

"Yes, Rain, this is Marie from New Academia High, is your sister not feeling well today? Her teachers have all marked her absent."

It was then when worry hit him.

"She left for school on time," he told them, "Are you sure she's not there?"

"I'm afraid not. Has something happened?"

 _Don't panic._ He told himself.

"No, I'll go look for her now, thank you," he said before hanging up.

It only took him a minute to slide on his shoes and short sleeved black jacket, followed by his trade mark long red scarf he liked to wear. He wasn't sure why, but he also grabbed his mom's old sheathed gunblade before he headed out the door, and locked it behind himself.

"Where could she have gone?" He muttered as he walked around the streets anxiously, slowly getting more worried.

Sighing, he decided it was time to ask for a bit of help, and headed towards Noel's house, which was only a few blocks away. He rang the doorbell once, then patiently waited for him or his cousin to answer.

"Daddy, someone is at the door." he heard Kristof say from inside.

Naturally, a moment later, Noel opened the door and smiled at him.

"Hi Rain, what brings you here?"

"You wouldn't have happened to see Faith around here would you? She ran off on me..." He glanced down at his feet as he spoke, feeling a bit guilty for what he had said to her before she did so. "We had a bit of a fight..."

"No I haven't seen her today...What happened?"

He looked up at the man whom he considered his uncle, then stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked away once more.

"She still thinks mom's gonna come back, I told her to stop being childish and to face the truth that she left us."

He felt a little ashamed for admitting to Noel that he had said those things, after all, what kind of big brother said that to his little sister? Her last words to him still echoed in his head: _"I really hate you sometimes you know that?!"_

"I think you were a bit harsh with her. You shouldn't have said that, but it is normal for siblings to fight sometimes."

"I know it's just-"

His words were interrupted when Kristof peeked out the door and saw him. Then, the little boy instantly ran to him and hugged him.

"Rain!" he said happily.

He smiled down on his young cousin and ruffled his hair a bit, then turned back to Noel.

"Would you mind helping me look for her? If we split up then we could cover more ground, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on him," he said, pointing down at Kristof.

He had babysat his cousin plenty of times, and was more than responsible. They could've been brothers more than cousins.

"Ok, I will help you to find your sister."

"I wanna go!" Kristof pleaded.

"Hmmm... I don't know son, can you be fit enough for this mission?" Noel said as he smiled and looked down at him.

"I am! I am! I can find Faith, I'm like my daddy!"

Rain smiled and chuckled a bit at his cousin, remembering that he had been pretty similar when he was his age.

 _"I'm gonna be strong like you, Mommy!"_  he had told Lightning when he was a kid.

At the time, she had smiled softly at him, and kissed him on the forehead.

_"You just be a good big brother and keep your sisters safe, ok?"_

Now, here he was, years later, and unable to find her. And Ashling... No he couldn't think about that now. He sighed, then pushed the old memories aside.

"She's never gone this long..." he muttered.

She was fifteen, and capable of taking care of herself, that much he knew, but he couldn't help worrying. He had a bad feeling in his gut that something bad had happened to her...

"Faith and auntie Light are fine, don't worry," Kristof said with a smile, trying to cheer him up. "You'll return to being a family, I know that."

Rain forced another smile down at his cousin, knowing that he was just a kid, but still appreciated his words- even though he knew they wouldn't become true. Lightning was gone, had been for eight years now. Noel also smiled softly at him.

"That's my boy. Well, where to start searching? Where was the last place you saw her?" Noel asked.

"Like I said she ran out of the house on me, no idea where she headed after that..."

"What about places that mean something to you? To her or both of you."

Rain sighed, and began pacing about as he thought. This is why he came to him, he knew how to stop and think things out. The problem was that he didn't know any of Faith's personal favorite places- she always kept them a secret. However there was one place that they both shared happy childhood memories of.

"Down by the water at the lake," he answered. Their parents had always brought them there when they were kids.

"Ok, let's start searching there."

"I wanna go to the beach!" Kristof exclaimed happily.

"If you wanna come to play, you cant go with us," Noel told him.

"I'm not going to play, I'm going to search for Faith!"

"It would be nice to have an extra pair of eyes," Rain pointed out.

Of course, it also meant they would have to be sure he didn't run off somewhere as well, but Rain knew he could handle that.

"Yay! With my help we'll find Faith soon!"

"Why do you sounds so sure?" Noel asked with a smile.

"Because I just know," he said cheerfully.

"Come on then," Rain said calmly, offering his hand to his cousin so he wouldn't slip away from him as he led them both towards the beach.

"Towards!" Kristof shouted.

"Well, so come on, but don't be distracted much, son."

"I won't."

It took a few minutes for them to walk down to the lake, which was located only a couple miles away. When they arrived, Rain sighed, and remembered how wide of an area it covered.

"We're gonna have to split up..." he muttered, while he kept a firm, but gentle, grip on Kristof's hand. "You stay with me ok? Don't wandering off on your own," he told him.

"Ok!" Kristof assured him cheerfully.

"I'll watch over him and take this side," Rain told Noel as he slowly walked towards the east side of the beach.He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Faith. It was pretty cool and cloudy out, so not many people were out and about wandering along the beach. This would make it easier for them to spot Faith if she was around. However, there wasn't any sign of her for quite a few yards, until something shiny in the sand caught his eye. Not letting go of Kristof's hand, he dashed towards the object, and gently picked it up off the ground. It was a small teardrop pendant on a silver chain. He would recognize it anywhere.

"This is Faith's..." he had gotten one for each of his sisters for their birthdays a couple years ago. The pendants were identical, but he had Ashling's old one on him, so he knew it had to be Faith's.

"You find something?" Noel asked as he walked back over to them.

"What is it? Isn't that hers?" Kristof asked as he stood up on his tiptoes to try and get a better look.

Rain nodded.

"Yeah it's hers, but why would it be here?"

His eyes scanned the area, trying to see if she were indeed near by, but there was no signof her.

"Faith!" he called, hoping she would answer, but there was only silence.

"This is where, or maybe..."

"Or maybe what daddy?"

"Maybe a portal in time is open, and Faith is in the time stream. But maybe... because I don't think she was kidnapped, she's agile."

"Or a shark ate her!" Kristof suggested as he raised his arms to add effect.

"We don't have any enemies that I know of..." Noel continued, "...And maybe that's the reason why Light disappeared. Maybe they are in Valhalla, or are lost in time..."

Rain sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I don't buy that crap," he said.

Of course he had heard countless stories about how his parents, along with Noel and his late aunt Serah, had traveled through time in one way or another, but that's all they were to him: Stories told to children. It just didn't seem logical.

"No matter what you all say, the truth is that mom ditched us."

"Well, I see that I can't convince you if you don't see any evidence," Noel said as he folded his arms.

"Look, I don't want to believe she was kidnapped or something like that any more than you do, but it makes sense. We're Director Estheim's children, and that right there can fetch some pretty good ransom for one of us. Have you forgotten it already happened once?"

Noel frowned apparently remembering that Rain was indeed right about that. Rain clenched his fist in anger just thinking about it, for he would never forget how that had ended. Those memories brought back anger, guilt, and grief, so he pushed them aside the best he could and focused on the present.

"I'll believe all your time travel and what not when I see some proof of it myself."

He waved his arm around as he spoke, as if he were daring Noel to prove his theories right then and there- but Noel wouldn't have to. As he waved his arm around in midair, it brushed against an invisible dimensional rift. Not sure what he had felt, he pulled back at once, and looked back behind him. It was almost completely normal looking, but the space behind him seemed to move and blur.

"What the hell?"

"I think now you will believe..."

He was speechless. He couldn't believe what was before his eyes. He slowly reached forward, wanting to touch the moving space in front of him, but pulled back at the last moment. Something told him it wasn't a good idea...

"Faith..." he whispered. "Is she in there, then?!"

"There is only one way to find out..."

"Travel through time?" Kristof asked.

"I think so."

"This is insane..." Rain muttered. His hand, once again, slowly reached out towards the distortion.

For the moment, he had forgotten that his other hand held Kristof's as well. He took one hesitant step forward, then the space in front of him seemed to reach forward and grab both he and Kristof, engulfing them in darkness. As they both let out a startled cry, Rain held onto Kristof so he wouldn't slip away. However, after the dimensional rift pulled them in, it closed, which left Noel on the beach alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! XD Also, I want to hear opinions on my OCs! Rain and Faith are mine.


	3. II Pulled Through Time

__

Hope Estheim sighed as he sat in his hospital bed, laptop in front of him, as he tried to stay on top of his Academy work.

"Just a few more days and I'm out of here…"

More than anything else, he was eager to get back home to his kids. He knew they were both more than responsible enough to take care of themselves while he was healing, but family was the most important thing to him. He had always tried to put them first before work, making time for quality time, unlike his own father. This had become a bit of a struggle after Lightning disappeared, but he still managed to pull it off.

"Hope."

He flinched at the sudden voice, and glanced up to see Noel standing in the doorway, wearing a grim expression.

"Has something happened?" he asked worriedly as he quickly saved his work and closed his laptop.

"Rain came to my house earlier asking me if I had seen Faith, because she had run off. We went looking for her, and found signs of an open rift in time, and her being pulled through. Then… heand Kristof were also pulled through. It closed before I could grab them. I'm sorry."

Hope paled as he slowly took in Noel's words. This couldn't be happening. Not to them too!

"They're…gone?"

Once it finally sunk in, his emotions changed immediately.

"We've got to do something **:**  try and find them!"

He quickly yanked the sheets off himself and jumped out of bed. However, the sudden movement caused a wave of pain from his still healing injuries. He hissed as he grabbed his bandaged side. Noel quickly stepped to his side for support.

"Don't move! You're not able yet. Trust me, I'll bring them back safe and sound."

Earlier, Hope had tried using his cure magic on himself to help the healing along a bit faster, but did not do much. Instead, it drastically drained his energy, which still weakened him.

"I can't just sit here while our children could be in danger, Noel! What kind of parent would I be if I did that?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, you're not a bad parent. Just rest a bit more and I'll bring them back as soon as I can."

"I'm helping you and that's that," he said in a stern tone.

He gently pushed Noel away as he ignored the pain and grabbed his Academy uniform from the closet.

"You're sure you can do this?"

"'It's not a question of can or can't, some things in life you just do.' That's what Light would say."

"Yeah, she would say that..."

Clearly Hope had made up his mind and nothing was going to stop him.

"Fine, if you're sure about coming with me I won't stop you, but you still shouldn't be up and around like this."

"I am," he said firmly, sliding his uniform on. "I won't let my family fall apart like this..."

"Alright, but be careful. We don't know what could happen here."

"I know that. I've been researching paradoxes for years, remember?" he reminded him as he grabbed his laptop and gently put it in one of his bags.

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Rain groaned as he opened his eyes a bit. He felt sand beneath him, and Kristof unconscious in his arms. He tried to sit up, but as soon as he did, his head throbbed and the pain forced him back down.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I think so.. **..** " Rain groaned as he slowly tried to sit up again,andthis time succeeded. "Head hurts, but I'm fine." He didn't appear to be injured otherwise, neither did little Kristof. He sighed, glad that he was safe. "Where am I?"

He took a good look at the person that found them. He was a teenager, probably around his own age with bright blue eyes and shaggy blonde hair that almost touched his shoulders. He clothes were both casual and practical, just light wash blue jeans and a black open vest over a gray T-shirt.

"You're in New Bodhum. Is the child okay?"

"I think he's fine."

Rain gently picked up Kristof as he stood up and looked around. Something wasn't right, he decided. He knew it was so when he caught a glimpse of Cocoon in the distance supported by the crystal pillar. He blinked a few times, and remembered the image from his history books, and how they had been pulled into another place.

"Do you know what the date is?" he asked, hoping it wasn't too weird of a question. "I think I hit my head a bit..."

"June 12, 20 AF."

Rain blinked when he heard the year, and muttered under his breath, "This is insane..."

They had apparently been tossed back in time by about five hundred years.

"If you really hit your head then let me help you," he said, and offered his arms out to hold Kristof for him.

Hearing the stranger wanted to help him, he narrowed his eyes a bit.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked. They were strangers after all.

"Please, do I look like some kind of thief or what? If you don't want my help then fine, but better takes care of the child."

"I can take care of him just fine." Rain snapped. "He's my cousin."

It was then when Kristof started to groan and squirm in his arms as he started to wake up.

"You okay?"

He nodded, still half asleep, but appeared to be fine otherwise, so Rain gently set him down.

"Hey, Storm!"

They looked as a girl in her mid-teens calmly approached them. Judging by the same eye and hair color that the other stranger had, Rain guessed that that they were related. Unlike him, though, her hair was in two low pig tails, and while her clothes were still casual, they weren't as practical. She wore a light blue tube top over a black tank top that only just barely covered her cleavage, with a black mini skirt and matching thigh hi socks. He guessed that she was going for a sexy, but modest look. However, by the rainbow colored armband she wore, he guessed that it wasn't guys she was looking to attract.

"Are we gonna go pick up hot girls or what?"

Yep. He was right (not that it bothered him). She then, of course, noticed Rain and Kristof, and blinked, but didn't appear to be embarrassed.

"Something going on?" she asked.

"Sis!" her, apparent, brother said, turning red.

"What?" she asked innocently while Rain stared with a raised eyebrow.

"Not now sis, can't you see I'm with people?"

"Yeah, bro, I'm not blind." She said before turning to Rain and Kristof. "I see you've both met my older brother here, I'm Nora."

"Rain," he replied flatly.

"My name's Kristof," He smiled brightly, not fazed by these strangers at all.

"Aw, you're so cute!" She walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "What brings you guys to New Bodhum?"

"We're actually a bit lost..." Itwas the only logical thing he could come up with.

"I see and where are you from? My name is Storm, by the way."

"Academia," Rain lied with ease. "To be honest I'm not really sure how we ended up here..." If he told them the truth, it would be right to the loony bin with him, and he knew it. "I'm afraid we're on our own for now."

"That blow to the head must've been hard…"

"It was..." he muttered, rubbing it gently. "Nothing permanent I hope..." He also had a throbbing headache, but he decided he would just have to bear with it for now.

" If you want, you can come to our house. Maybe my mom can help you," Storm offered.

"Are you sure? I don't wanna be a burden..."

"Don't worry about that, my mom is super sweet…except when she is working in the school…."

"Yep...Meanie Miss Villiers..." Nora muttered as she shuddered. "I'll run ahead and tell her."

"We've gotta find Faith..." Rain muttered as he watched Nora run off.

"Who's Faith?"

"My sister. We were looking for her before he got lost and somehow ended up here." Not entirely a lie..."Have you by chance seen a girl with long wavy silver hair in a ponytail and blue eyes around here?"

"Hmmm... no, I haven't seen her, but I can help you find her."

"Thank you."

He gently held Kristof's hand as they followed Storm. They had apparently wound up on an abandoned part of the beach, but the village was only a moment's walk away. Kristof 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at everything, since he had never been outside New Academia, and also tugged at Rain to get his attention to point out every little thing that he thought was interesting.

Rain on the other hand, had been to New Bodhum a few times when he was a child for family vacations. Of course, that was a few centuries from now, and the village was still slowly developing into the large tourist city it would become.

"Well, here we are."

Rain blinked a few times at the house they had stopped at. He had been inside before, for it was actually the vacation house that his family would come to own. If he remembered correctly, it was called the "NORA" house, though he had never asked why.

"I live with my parents and two sisters. You've already met Nora, and I'm sure you'll meet Claire soon."

NORA and Nora, that couldn't be a coincidence... He pondered about it for a moment, then shruggedand wiped his feet on the welcome mat outside, not wanting to bring any sand or dirt in.

"They're here,Mom," Nora said as she noticed them walking in.

"Welcome back to the house, son." Their mother came forward to him smiling and gave him a gentle hug. "Did you go to the beach again?"

"Yes, Mom, I told you this morning."

"So please clean the floor, because you are soiling it."

"Mom!"

"So, who are your friends?"

"I was going to introduce them to you... And where'sDad?"

"He's out but, shouldn't take long to return."

Rain barely heard their conversation. His eyes had widened when he saw Storm's mother. Her long pink wavy hair in a side ponytail and her bright blue eyes... His late aunt Serah was right in front of him. He paled, and took a step back, which caused him to bump into the wall behind him.

"You're..."

He couldn't get the words out, but he knew she was supposed to be dead. She had died the night Mom had vanished, he had been to her funeral and everything.

"This isn't right..."

According to what he had heard from his parents Serah and Noel had started their time traveling journey in 3AF, yet here he was in 20 AF, and she was here.

"It doesn't make sense...I'm dreaming. That or I've gone insane..."

"Are you okay?" Nora asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing his sudden shocked reaction

He knew he was completely freaking out about this, and by the looks they were all giving him, he guessed his actions were starting to freak them out in return. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

"I-I'm sorry about that, you just look a lot like someone I used to know..."

_Next thing you know I'll be running into Mom too..._

"Really? Well, then it'sunderstandable. I'm Serah Villiers. You've already met Storm and Nora, and this is my other daughter Claire."

"It's nice to meet you."

Claire smiled at him softly. Like her siblings, she shared their eye and hair color, but unlike them she had grown out her hair and put it in a braid that hung over her left shoulder. Her style also appeared to be the opposite of her sister's, for she wore a white knee length sundress that faded into a pink gradient at the end. Glancing back and forth between her and Nora, he had to guess that they were identical twins. That of course, made him think of Ashling, and his heart ached for a moment...

"I'm Rain."

He hoped they wouldn't ask for his last name as well. He planned to say Kreiss if anyone did, knowing none of them would recognize it, but he feared Kristof correcting him...

"And is this your brother?" Serah asked, smiling at Kristof.

"My cousin. The only sibling I have is my sister Faith, the one who went missing earlier...I've gotta find her..."

"Missing? Why?"

"That's terrible..." Claire whispered.

"She just vanished. We went out looking for her, and then ended up here." He purposely hid details. Telling them the whole truth would be a direct trip to the loony bin.

"We can help you to find her if you want," she offered with a smile. "And we can ask for my sister and her husband to help too."

"Thank you, but I don't want to be a burden to you."

He mainly didn't want to drag his parents into this, especially his mother of all people. Nothing made sense to him anymore, his logic had been twisted, and he didn't need more things on his mind. He knew seeing his mother that wouldn't know him would just make it worse.

"Don't worry, you aren't burden. We'd be more than happy to help."

"Why do I feel like I have seen you before?"

He glanced over at his cousin and frowned. He knew he had seen some pictures of the mother he had never gotten the chance to know. He made a mental note to talk to him later when they got some privacy, and in the mean time prayed to Etro that he wouldn't start saying things that make them all think they were both crazy.

"Thanks, Miss..." Turning back to Serah, catching himself before he said 'aunt Serah'.

"We'll all help you."

"Thank you," he half forced a smile, a bit relieved. "I'm afraid I don't know this area very well..."

"Don't worry I will show you the around," said Storm.

"Thanks."

"I can watch over Kristof while you're out." Claire offered.

"Hey!"

"You wanna come too?" Rain guessed.

"I said with my dad I would help you!"

"Alright, but remember, no wandering off on your own alright?" he said taking his cousins hand once more.

"I know, I know."

"Just making sure," he said before he turned back to Storm. "Shall we get going then?" he asked.

"Yeah, lets go."

"I'll come too," Nora said happily, and stepped outside without another word.

"Wait, Storm, why don't go see if your cousin wants to help too?"

"Awww, but Moooom, she bothers me!"

"That may be so, but she's still your cousin and she can be a big help."

"Okay Mom, we'll go get her."

"That's my boy."

Rain blinked at the mention of a cousin and a "her" at that. Another piece of the confusing puzzle that he had to solve. This time that they had traveled back to didn't seem right at all...

_What the heck is going on here?_

"Lead the way then," he said, keeping his thoughts to himself.

He followed Storm and Nora back outside, making sure Kristof was right next to him, then they began walking towards the edge of the village.

"So, what's this cousin of yours like?"

"My cousin is a headache, but we help each other. We're in the same school, and want be soldiers when we're older."

"Oh, she's not that bad, Storm." She sighed and rolled her eyes at her older brother. "And for the record I'll pass on military life," she said to Rain.

"Not interested in fighting?"

"No I can fight." She pounded her fists together for effect. "There's just too many rules for me.I'd rather follow my name."

Rain raised an eyebrow at this, while it was Storm's turn to sigh.

"And again Nora, you were named after Nora Estheim, not NORA..."

"Well,  _I_  like to think of it as both."

Storm shook his head while she smirked, but Rain was still a bit confused. He, of course, recognized the name as his late grandmother that was killed in the Purge, but why would she be named after her?

"And what exactly does NORA stand for?"

"No obligations, rules, or authority." They chorused.

He resisted the urge to face palm.

"Alright, here we are," Storm said as they stopped at the very last house on the outskirts of the village. "Our cousin's name is Rainbow. I think her parents are at work right now."

Rain couldn't help to breath a sigh of relief, glad that he wouldn't have to face Lightning right now.

"I'll see if she's home," Storm said as he walked up and knocked on the door.

It swung open a few moments later, smacking Storm in the face as Rainbow stepped outside. Rain could immediately tell that she was indeed related to Lightning, for she too had gotten her pink hair. She looked about Faith's age, and wore dark blue jean shorts, red combat boots, and a sleeveless lavender midriff sweater over a black tank top.

"Hi Storm," Shegreeted cheerfully, smiling down at her cousin who was now on the floor. She made no comment about smacking him in the face.

"Damn you..." was all he said.

"You're no fun."

"Hi Rainbow!" Nora said as she gave her cousin a big hug. "How've you been lately?"

"Nora!" She returned the hug. "I'm very good, and you? I hope Storm's not bothering you?"

"Shut up!"

"Oh no, he's fine," she said while giggling.

Rainbow then noticed Rain and Kristof, and blinked at them, but still continued to smile.

"Oh, hi! Who are you?"

"Oh, this is Rain and Kristof," Nora introduced them. "Rain's little sister has gone missing so we're gonna help them look for her, that's why we're here."

"Ooh, I see, well I'll help you to find your sister. As you heard my name is Rainbow, it's nice to meet you."

"Thanks," he said. "We're not from around here so we don't know the area **.** That'swhy we'd like some help."

"Oh, well, I could give you a tour around New Bodhum later if you want. I imagine you are new around here right?"

"Yes," he said. He couldn't help gazing at Cocoon in the distance, still amazed thathe was seeing it. "Out of curiosity, I heard rumors that a meteorite fell around here back in 3 AF. Do you know if those were true by chance?" he asked, remembering that's how Serah's and Noel's journey first began.

"Hmmm, I don't remember mom or dad saying about something like that..." said Nora.

"A meteorite? Mmm... not that I am aware of. The only meteorite that I know of is the one that my dad help stop but that was so many years ago in another city. Maybe you could ask my parents later. Mom should be back in a couple hours, and dad's coming back tonight."

"And if we don't find Faith around here we could ask them to help out too," Nora added.

"I don't wanna bother them," Rain said.

"Don't worry, it's not any trouble. It's our duty to help people," said Rainbow.

"Alright..." He relentedwith a sigh "We should start looking for her then."

"I want cookies!" Kristof suddenly blurted.

"Aw, how cute. I have cookies," Rainbow told him.

Rain groaned and face palmed. "Please don't sugar him up..."

"Why not? Let him be a kid."

"Yeah! I'm a kid!"

"A kid under MY responsibility right now." he reminded them. "And I don't want a sugared up kid under my responsibility," he said as he folded his arms.

He tried to stand firm, but both Kristof and Rainbow were giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Fine... One cookie, that's it."

"Yay!" Kristof cheered as he hugged his cousin. "Thank you, Rain."

Rainbow calmly walked back into the house, then returned a few moments later with a chocolate chip cookie in her hand.

"Here you go, I made it with my mom earlier."

"Mom hardly ever baked with us..." he muttered softly, recalling afew memories of her in the kitchen. Sure she cooked, but he remembered baking had been more of Serah's thing.

"Does she work a lot?" Rainbow asked, catching his words.

"She ditched us," Rain said coldly before he could stop himself. "Just like that, without a word."

"Oh...I'm sorry for that..."

"It doesn't matter any more. Right now I just wanna find Faith, and go home."

"Right, where should we start then?"

Rain shrugged. "Like I said I don't know the area. But there are monsters around here right? You guys know how to fight if we run into them?" he asked.

"Yep," Nora said as she pounded her fists together and cracked her knuckles. "Dad taught me all I know."

Rain also noticed that Rainbow now had a silver buster sword strapped to her back, and he guessed she had grabbed it when she had run inside. Glancing towards Storm, he too nodded and pointed to the two pistols in his belt. Somehow he had missed that before...

"We know how fight, so we won't be slowed down."

"Good," he said, glad that he had decided to grab his mother's old gunblade before he had left his house. "Where do you think we should start then?"

* * *

"Here?" Hope asked Noel as they approached the lake.

"Yes, they disappeared right over here."

"Alright," he said as he took out his laptop and started up the program to scan the general area for paradox levels. Since they were already in the area where the paradox activity had supposedly taken place, it only took a minute for the data to be gathered and appear on the screen, but Hope still tapped his fingers impatiently as he waited. Noel let him work in peace.

"That's strange..." he muttered. "I've never seen levels like this..."

"What?"

Noel stood over Hope's shoulder, trying to get a look, but, as he guessed, the data on the screen was pretty much another language to him. A couple decades of living in this time and he still didn't have a good hold on the modern high technology.

"There was definitely a paradox effect around here, like a temporary rift opened suddenly, but...I'm picking up levels that are different then you and Serah experiencedfrom your time traveling. It's like they weren't just pulled to a different time..."

"Meaning?"

"Noel, these levels suggest that they were pulled into a different dimension entirely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so about Nora because I know this is probably going to come out in comments. Yes she is gay, very gay. Why? Well sh-ort version is because I felt like it. Am I going anywhere with it? Not in this one, just a little nudge here and there. Maybe in another story, but even then I still don't write any romance stuff over PG-13.
> 
> So this brings out more OCs, there's only one more that will be revealed in chapter 4. Again mine are Rain, Faith, Nora and Claire, and the rest are my partner's. I would like opinions on all of them, and Nora, Claire, and Storm are all supporting characters if it matters.


	4. III Noticeable Paradoxes

"That's not possible..."

Hope sighed as he closed his laptop, then rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"Noel...I was wrong, I HAVE seen these kinds of levels once before, the exact same ones to be precise..."

He had taken another look at them, and then pulled up the data from eight years ago for comparison.

"What? When?Why didn't you say so?!"

"I'm sorry! I had to think about it!" He stared at the screen for a second longer, then half slammed it shut before heput it away. Taking a deep breath to calm down, he turned back to Noel. "Look, right after Lightning was declared missing, I checked for any paradox levels around the city. These are the same levels as I saw back then..."

"Hope, how come you've never told me?"

"I don't know!" he defended. "I've gotten so distracted with work and raising the kids on my own, and I kept telling myself that Lightning was out there and was going to come back, but now... If I'm really am right about this, then both Lightning and our children are out of reach in another world. I bet Lightning's been trying to get back, but can't figure out how **.** "

"So you're saying that they could all be in the same place?"

"It's very likely, but I'll have to study these levels to be sure. As much as I hate it, it's going to take some time for me to figure this all out, and how we can bring them home. In the mean time, we just have to hope they're alright..."

"I see."

"I'm sorry..." he muttered, glancing down. "If I had realized this eight years ago, then this probably wouldn't have happened... Everything's really falling apart isn't it?"

"No, Hope, it isn't."

"How can you say that? Serah's gone, Lightning and our children could be in danger for all we know, and I nearly got myself killed."

"Lightning's not gone, she has to be alive somewhere! We must have faith."

Hope sighed, and nodded.

"I think you're right...And we can't lose hope either. 'Living without hope is just a way to die'," he said, once again quoting Lightning's old words to him long ago.

'"Lightning said that, didn't she?"

Hope nodded. "Well, she was absolutely right."

"I just don't understand why this has happened. Why would Lightning and Faith be pulled out of this time? This world even?"

"Maybe Etro needs a new warrior, maybe something bad is going to happen..."

"She could've asked her first."

He had mixed feelings about the Goddess. Sure she had done good things like freeing them from their crystal sleep when Cocoon first fell, and without her the world would be consumed by Valhalla's Chaos, but not only she had taken his Light away twice, but now his children, too.

"Okay, so for Lightning that would make sense, but Faith's not a fighter, even if she had Mog with her."

"Maybe she can be."

"I know my own daughter, Noel. Rain's the tough one, not her. She only knows the basics of fighting so far, you know that."

"Anything can happen, We have to be strong for our children."

"Yeah. We'll bring them all back somehow."

"Here," Noel said as he took an Artefact from his bag and handed it to Hope. "I've kept this for a few years, for an emergency, and this is an emergency."

"How long have you had this?" Hope demanded, rather surprised.

"Since Serah's left us."

"Wait," Hope said, realizing something. "If you've had this for eight years then...Where did you find this? Etro could've left this for you to find on purpose, to bring Lightning back!"

* * *

"I guess she's not around here..."Rain muttered, disappointed, as he stuck his hands in his pockets. They were now on the way back to the village.

They had searched the area for a good two hours, but found no signs of her. As predicted, they had run into a few weak monsters on the way, but that turned out to be nothing they couldn't handle. None of them had been lying when they said they could fight, and while he thought Nora was a little crazy for only using her bare fists, no one had been hurt.

"Hey, we'll find her okay?" Nora said, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, don't worry, we  _will_  find her! Stay positive," Rainbow added.

He knew they were just trying to help, but it was more annoying than anything else. They were so happy and carefree...

"Kinda hard when I'm worried about her like this..."

_As well as in another confusing time. You have no idea what I'm going through._

"Maybe we can ask around the village if anyone saw her," Storm suggested.

"Yeah do you have a picture of her to help?" Nora asked.

"Afraid not." He lied.

He did have a picture, but it was an old family one. He couldn't have them see that he was related to Hope and Lightning. That would raise too many problems.

"Well, why don't we see if your parents are home yet, Rainbow?" Nora asked, turning to her cousin.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Off we go then!" Nora shouted cheerfully as they walked back into the village, then approached Rainbow's home.

"There you are," Lightning said as she came outside and walked towards the group with her arms folded. "I know you're old enough to take care of yourself now Rainbow, but I would appreciate you leaving a note for us if you're going to be gone for a few hours. You know I worry."

"Sorry, Mom. Next time I will. Sorry for making you worry."

Rain stiffened when he saw Lightning, and quickly glanced down to avoid eye contact.

_It's not her. This is a different time, it's NOT her..._

"Who's your friend here?"

"This is Rain, I just met him today. I think he's a friend of Storm's."

"Nice to meet you Rain." She offered her hand and he glanced up and shook it politely, but was still trying to avoid any and all eye contact. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, really."

"His little sister's gone missing," Nora explained. "We checked the area to see if she was around, but didn't find any signs of her."

"Oh I see. Well I can help you to find her. What's she look like?"

"Wavy silver hair in a ponytail, and she should have a moogle with her."

She nodded, taking mental notes of her description.

"I'll keep an eye out for her and ask around."

"Thank you."

A moment later he felt a raindrop, and looked up to see that the clouds had gathered and the sky had darkened.

"Oh geez," Nora said as she too looked up. "Storm, we better get home before it starts pouring or Mom will be mad."

"Yeah I know, I don't wanna see Mom angry," he said as he gulped in fear. "Uh Rain, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"He can stay with us, right Mom?"

"I don't wanna be a burden, but as long as it's ok..." He glanced down at Kristof and ruffled his hair. "He's with me, too, though."

"You guys won't be a burden. You can stay with us if you want."

"Thanks," he said, trying to smile a bit.

"Well, we better get going," Nora said as she turned to leave with her brother. "I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow."

They all waved goodbye, then Rainbow turned to Lightning.

"Is Dad home too?"

"He's still out on his deliveries, but he should be back tonight."

"Can I ask a question?" Rain asked Lightning, catching her attention. "I've heard rumors that a meteorite fell around here in 3 AF, and I was wondering if you anything about it. Nora and Rainbow said they didn't."

"A meteorite?" She blinked in confusion, probably thinking back to that year, then shook her head.

"Alright, thanks."

_It doesn't make sense..._

They all flinched when it started to sprinkle on them, so they quickly made their way inside.

"I'll go ahead and start dinner, Rainbow can you show them to the guest room?"

"I wanna help!" Kristof said as he followed Lightning into the kitchen.

"Alright, over here Rain."

"Just a sec."

He slipped out of his shoes and set them neatly by the front door. He started to follow Rainbow, when a framed picture on the wall made him stop and look at it. It was an old group photo, of Lightning, Serah, Snow, and Hope- in his late teens. and in his Academy uniform, with his arm around Lightning. He couldn't help but smile at it.

"Is this your dad?" he asked, pointing to Hope in the picture.

Rainbow hadn't noticed him stop, so she had to walk back to him before she took a look at the picture.

"No, that's Hope, an old friend of my mom and uncle's."

She then pointed to another picture that hung on the wall. Lightning was in a simple white wedding dress, with a blonde spiky haired man beside her in a tux.

"That's my dad, his name is Cloud."

"Oh..." he said, frowning in disappointment and confusion. "Do you know what happened to Hope? Where he is now?"

At that she frowned, and her eyes softened.

"He died in 3 AF... **.** It was before I was born, but I know it's still painful for my mom and her friends to think about."

"He's...dead?" he repeated, eyes widening. "But that's just not possible! He can't be dead, he just can't!"

"Hey calm down!" she said as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Did you know him or something?"

He barely heard her.

"If he's dead then..." He glanced out the window, and saw Cocoon in the distance, supported by the crystal pillar. "500 AF..." he whispered, knowing fully well what was going to happen. In 500 AF it would fall, killing millions and triggering the end of humanity. The future that Noel came from would be destined to happen.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore," he said as he buried his face in his hands. "But if you really are right about Hope, then it's not good..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, taking a step back. "I just don't feel too well... Anyway, you were showing me to the room?"

Nodding, she lead him to the guest room, which consisted of two twin beds up against opposite walls, and a dresser with a mirror attached to it.

"Make yourself at home."

He smiled at it, then took off his scarf and set it on one of the beds along with his gunblade.

"Rain, Miss Lightning said dinner's almost ready," Kristof said as he poked his head in the room after Rainbow left.

"Alright, but I need to talk to you about something," he said as he gently took his hand and pulled him aside before he closed the door. "Listen, you probably already know this, but we can't let anyone know we're from the future, ok?" he whispered. "And...I know this is probably gonna be a bit hard to understand, but I don't think we've just gone back in time here..."

No one knowing anything about the meteorite falling was his first clue, but Hope apparently being dead made it clear that something was wrong with the timeline he was familiar with. He didn't know what exactly had it was some sort of drastic time paradox that they had been thrown into.

"I understand, but, I like this . Serah is nice."

"I know, but wehave to find Faith and get home, ok? Your dad's probably really worried about you, same with mine."

"Okay."

He hugged him, and Rain smiled, then hugged him back before ruffling his hair and standing up.

"Can you be a strong big boy for me until then?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Good, and remember to wash your hands before dinner."

Nodding, Kristof ran off to the bathroom to wash his hands like he said, leaving Rain alone once more.

"Glad that's taken care of..." he muttered with a sigh, worried that he would've rambled about all sorts of things otherwise.

* * *

Later that night, Lightning was quietly doing the dishes, her mind on Rain and Kristof, both of whom had already gone to bed. Why did they both look so familiar to her? And Rain stillavoided eye contact throughout the somewhat awkward dinner. She was more than a little suspicious...

"I'm home," Cloud said as he came through the front door, and locked it behind him.

"Dad!" Rainbow said as she got up from her place on the couch. She dropped the book she had been reading, and ran to hug him. "How'd it go?"

"Hello Rainbow," he said, returning her hug. "And today was fine."

"Welcome home," Lightning said, smiling at her husband and walking over to him for a kiss on the cheek. "We have some sleeping guests."

"Really? Friends of yours, Rainbow?"

"Yep. Rain and Kristof, they're cousins."

"Rain's sister has apparently gone missing so they're looking for her." Lightning added as she walked back over to the sink. "Teenage girl with silver hair and a pony tail."

"I haven't seen an any girl like that, but I'll help find her. What about their parents?"

Lightning shrugged.

"Neither one of them said anything about any." Then she looked back at Rainbow. "Did they say anything about their families to you?"

"Rain mentioned his mom not being around, but nothing else."

"I see...Strikes me as a little odd as to why they'd be out here alone like this."

"We can ask them tomorrow," Cloud said as he yawned softly, tired from his long work day.

"Yeah..." she said softly, rubbing her forehead. "They both look so familiar though. It's like I know I've seen them before, yet I can't remember where or when. And Rain... he kept avoiding eye contact with me."

"You really can't remember?" Cloud asked worriedly as he gently held her hand.

She had gone through moments like this before, ever since Cocoon had fallen. Since then, she felt like part of her memory was gone, yet at the same time her childhood and time as a l'Cie were all still there, clear as day. Eventually she pushed it aside and told herself it was nothing- but now, here she was, experiencing it again with two strangers.

"Do you know them Mom?"

"I don't know...I keep feeling like I do and..." She drifted off, then sighed. "Rain's eyes remind me of Hope's..."

"But that can't be, Hope's,you know..."

"Maybe they're related," Rainbow suggested, remembering the way Rain had acted when she had told him Hope was dead.

"Maybe, but-" she stopped, then walked away. "Hang on a minute I need to check something."

She quietly tiptoed down the hall, and cracked open the door to the guest room where Rain and Kristof were both fast asleep. She saw Rain's gunblade, snatched it up quietly, then went and fetched her own for comparison before coming back to Cloud and Rainbow.

"Just what I thought," she said as she set them both down side by side on the table. "They're identical..."

"But how?" Cloud asked, his eyes widening.

"What does this mean, mom?"

"It means he some how got a hold of one of my old weapons. It's a custom job that only I order, no one else. How the hell he managed this I don't know..." She picked up Rain's to examine it closely, and found her initials engraved along the handle. "There, that proves it was mine," she said as she pointed to it.

"Is this even possible?" Cloud asked, knowing how careful and protective she was of her weapons. How could someone have gotten a hold of one?

"I don't know," she admitted, folding her arms. "But I'm getting answers from him about this tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I killed Hope in the parallel world, I'm evil aren't I? XD


	5. IV Answers

__

The next morning Rain groaned as he woke up and dragged himself out of bed. He didn't know what time it was. He saw that Kristof was still fast asleep, so he dressed quietly, then walked into the kitchen to find Lightning and Rainbow up and having breakfast

"Morning..." he muttered, still rubbing his eyes.

He hadn't slept too well- kept having nightmares about Cocoon crashing down to the ground and Hope dying...

"Good morning," Lightning said, glancing at him as he sat down. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah..." he lied, still trying to fully wake up. "You don't have any coffee or tea by chance, do you?"

Rainbow nodded, then got up to pour a cup of coffee from the pot that had been made earlier. She smiled as she handed it to him. He then thanked her as he began to sip it. He then caught Lightning's gaze, and noticed that she was looking at him with narrowed eyes, like he had done something wrong.

"What?" he snapped, a bit cranky from his lack of good sleep.

"Your weapon," she flatly stated as she folded her arms. "Where did you get it?"

_Shit._

Clearly, she had noticed it. How the hell was he going to explain this one? He had always been a terrible liar to his mom.

"I honestly don't know where it came from, my father was just hanging onto it for a while, and I found it while cleaning one day. That's all I know."

"I see... So you don't know."

"Yeah."

"It's a lot like my mom's weapon," Rainbow explained.

"Oh," he said, trying to sound surprised. "I get why you're suspicious now," he said, looking back to Lightning, getting a bit nervous about all his lies. "I honestly don't know why Hope would have it." Once he realized his slipped, he stiffened and covered his mouth.

_Fuck..._

"Hope?" Lightning asked, rather surprised before narrowing her eyes at him once more. "You're hiding something..."

Rain gulped, then sighed. There was no way he could cover it up now.

"Hope Estheim...is, or was my father..."

"What?" They chorused.

"But how?" Lightning asked. "He was your age when he was killed! As far as I know he didn't even have a girlfriend."

She was about to ask more questions, but Rain stood up without warning.

"I need some air..." he muttered, but what he really needed was a way out of this conversation. "I'll be back in a bit," he said as he slid on his shoes and grabbed his scarf and gunblade.

Lightning decided she would ask more when he came back. However, as she watched the young man leave, she noticed that he really did have Hope's eyes...Maybe he was right about Hope being his father after all. She sighed, then hissed at the sudden pain from a headache.

"Mom are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

The pain faded after a few moments, but she wondered where the heck it had come from suddenly. It wasn't normal.

* * *

A walk in the village wasn't going to do it for Rain. He planned to just walk along the outskirts and let his feet carry him where they pleased, but once he got out of the house he noticed Claire walking near by. She noticed him too, and gave a friendly wave.

"Out looking for your sister again?" she asked.

"No, just for some fresh air," he replied.

"Want some company?"

Rain shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. He would rather be alone, but at the same time he wouldn't mind it too much. Claire calmly walked beside him, biting her lip a bit as they left the village. She gave a gentle pat to the extendable pole she had attached to her thigh, but didn't say anything.

"Not much of a fighter?" he asked, noticing her nervousness.

"Yeah...sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's not for everyone. I'm sure you have other useful skills."

"I've been told I'm a decent medic," she said beaming a bit, nervousness completely gone.

"See? That's more than useful."

"Yeah. I'd like to take my skills and become a nurse some day, I like to help people."

"I'm sure you'd be good at it."

"What about you?" sheasked, flinching a bit as he shot down a monster that had come close to them.

"I'd like to join the Guardian Corps, but I think my father would rather have me in The Academy with him. He means well, but it's not for me."

Noticing that his feet had taken them both up close to the crystal pillar, he gazed up at it and smiled.

"It's amazing..."

"Yeah."

_And to think it's going to fall..._

That thought made his heart sink. What was going to happen to this place after it fell in 500AF? And what exactly  _was_  this place? A giant time paradox, or something else entirely?

"We should head back."

He didn't want to look at it anymore, not with all the negative thoughts it brought. He turned to leave with Claire, but a step later he felt something beneath his shoe. He raised an eyebrow, then stepped aside to examine it. There was something shiny in the ground.

"Find something?" sheasked, and stepped close to take a better look herself.

He gently picked it up and dusted all the dirt and grime off with his hands. It was a bit rusted, a sign that it had been there for a while, but even then he could tell it was once a shining silver ring. He flipped it around so he could see the rest of it. He paled. On the front there was a small lightning bolt, each space of it filled with tiny sparkling diamonds. He almost dropped it in shock. He recognized it immediately, for it was his mother's wedding ring.

"No way... That's not possible!"

"What's wrong? Have you seen it before?"

He barely heard her. He just stared at the ring in his hand, slowly putting the pieces of everything that had happened together in his head until they finally clicked. His shock was replaced by anger, and he started marching back towards the village.

"Rain what's going on?" Claire said, a bit alarmed as she caught up to him.

"I need to talk to your aunt."

_And I really hope I'm wrong about this._

She bit her lip once more as she followed him, wanting to ask more, but she kept her mouth shut. It was obvious he was mad about something, and she feared asking about it would set him off even more. Thus their walk back was silent. Once they were back in the village, she began to walk back home without saying goodbye, but then Kristof happily ran out of Lightning's house to greet her while Rain walked in.

"Claire!"

He hugged her, and she smiled down on him.

"Will you play with me?"

"Of course."

She loved kids, and Kristof was just absolutely adorable.

* * *

"I need to talk to you," Rain said the moment he saw Lightning, glaring at her in anger.

_Please be wrong..._

"What happened?"

She noticed his glare, but wasn't fazed by it. He set the ring on the table in front of her.

"I found this by the crystal pillar. If you recognize it then you don't belong here."

"What the hell do you mean I don´t belong here? I don't recognize that ring."

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Very."

Rainbow was beside her now, with an eyebrow raised at the ring, wondering what was going on.

"Look at the engraving on the inside:'To my beloved Light, from Hope'."

"What?"

Eyes wide at his words, she picked it up to take a closer look, and found the engraving exactly like he had said. Shocked and confused, she quickly put it back down.

"This doesn't mean anything. I cant be that Light, I'm married to Cloud, I have a daughter."

Her terrible head ache then came back intensely without warning. The sudden pain caused her to cry out and grip her head as she almost fell to her knees. Rain and Rainbow both flinched, but while Rainbow was instantly at her side asking what was wrong, anger flared up within Rain as he clenched his fist.

He  _was_  right. This was  _their_  Lightning, his own mother with partial amnesia, and now with another man and child.

"This should help," he said, pulling out a family picture of him, Hope, Lightning, and Faith taken right before she disappeared and placed it on the table right by the ring.

She glanced at it, then hissed at the pain. Everything was coming back to her now. Getting pulled into Valhalla, fighting Caius, Serah and Noel going on their journey to change the future, marrying Hope a few years after and giving birth to their beautiful children.

"You remember now don't you?"

"Rain what's going on?" Rainbow demanded, hugging her mother.

She then saw the picture on the table, and her eyes widened in shock.

"She's my mother, too,Rainbow," he said, clenching his fist. "The mother that ditched us, forgot about us!" Tears were in his eyes now.

"Rain I-"

"HOW COULD YOU?!" He shouted, banging his fist on the table. "Do you have any idea how many times dad promised us you would come back? How many nights I heard Faith cry herself to sleep because she missed you? Dad almost got himself killed because you weren't there to protect him, and here he's already dead!"

He didn't dare mention what happened to Ashling, he was already too hurt to think about that.

"Don't talk that way to my mom! You're lucky that my dad's not here."

Rainbow had no idea what he was talking about, and assumed it was just nonsense. Lightning however, was stuck silent by his words, each one had been a knife to her heart.

"I remember, I..."

"I'll find Faith on my own," he spat as he grabbed back his family picture. "I don't want your help any more."

He stormed outside, and slammed the door behind him. Lightning was going to follow him at once and talk some sense into him, but her head was still throbbing from the memories that continued to flood back. Instead, she saw Rainbow grab her sword and go after him.

* * *

Rain soon came aware that Rainbow was following him as he left the village. He didn't like that, he wanted to be alone, and certainly didn't want to deal with what he now knew was his half sister. She was already behind him, so he picked up the pace until she was out of sight and sound.

The sky had darkened once more, implying that another storm was coming, but he didn't care. So what if he got ironically rained on? He needed his alone time to cool off.

He was at least a mile past the village now, finally alone. Or so he thought. He was completely caught off guard when he was suddenly hit by an energy spell from behind, which knocked him down and back a few feet. He got up at once and drew his gunblade to face his attacker. His eyes widened when he saw who it was.

Purple hair, black leather armor, and a large sword on his back. He had a young girl with him too, long platinum blonde hair, in a pale pink corset and white skirt. She certainly didn't look like how he had heard Yeul was described, but he knew all too well who the man was.

"Caius?!"

He was in deep trouble now...

"So you know who I am..."

"My mother told me about you. What do you want with me?"

"Your existence here threatens the time line," he said as he drew Ragnarok.

"So that gives you the right to kill me? I don't think so!" He glanced around, looking for a way out, for he knew he couldn't take this man on and win- that would be more than foolish.  
"Caius Ballad!"

Rainbow had finally caught up, and charged at Caius with her buster sword. Seeing her distracted Rain for a moment. He wondered how the hell she recognized him, which gave Caius the moment to slash at Rain with Ragnarok before he spun around and blocked Rainbow's sword with his own.

"Jivana, take care of her!"

The girl nodded at Caius, then cast Aero at Rainbow to push her out of the way. "Hello, spiky."

"Who are you?" Rainbow demanded as she got up off the ground.

"Your worst nightmare."

She then cast thunder at her, but Rainbow was able to dodge the attack.

"You leave my sister alone!" Rain shouted, throwing a thunder spell right back at Jivana, then turned his focus back to Caius. He was blocking his large sword with his own, but Caius easily overpowered him and knocked the gunblade out of his hands. He gasped as he rolled out of the way, only to be scratched by Ragnarok once more.

Rain held back a cry of pain as the sword cut his flesh. He failed to notice Jivana dodge the spell he threw at her and send a lightning spear right back at him. Caius was coming at him for more, not giving him a moments rest. He couldn't dodge them both, so he took a chance. Fighting through the pain, he rolled out of the way of Ragnarok to grab his sword, but got hit by the lightning attack. He screamed out as the pain surged through him, and noticed he was also beginning to feel dizzy from blood loss.

Rainbow wasn't doing too well either. She swung her sword at Jivana, but she simply ducked out of the way. When she tried to kick her, Jivana grabbed her leg.

"You stupid little girl."

Rainbow took a punch to the face, which would most likely swell and bruise later, but for now she acted like it was nothing and countered with Piro. It failed. Jivana let go of her and stepped out of the way.

"Come on Rainbi, let's play!"

Clearly this fight was nothing for her. Rainbow didn't give up though, and tightly gripped her buster sword while Jivana drew some throwing knives.

 _I need to focus..._ Rain thought as he turned his eyes away from Rainbow and her battle.

He couldn't fight Caius and keep an eye on Rainbow to make sure she was alright at the same time. This was a real life or death battle he was in, and already he was on the losing side. He needed to find a way out before things got worse. Already he was fighting for consciousness, but his gunblade was only a few inches away now. He weakly reached for it, but just when he was about to grab it, Caius kicked it away, and stood over him, ready to deliver the final blow.

"For Yeul," he said, raising his sword.

"Damn you..."

Rain closed his eyes. He knew it was over for him. This was not how he expected himself to go, not murdered by a half crazy immortal in an unfamiliar time and place. He was never going to find Faith now...Oh, Etro, how she would be devastated when she found out, but what could he do? He barely had the strength to stay conscious right now. He heard Rainbow scream his name, apparently noticing as well, but it was to late.

 _I'll be with you soon Ashling..._. _I'm sorry Faith._

He waited for the final blow to come, but instead heard a gunshot ring out into the air. He snapped his eyes open, and saw that Lightning had come to their rescue. She was standing a few yards away, her gunblade pointing directly at Caius. He was gripping his shoulder as he glared back at her, clearly wounded.

"Get away from him Caius!"

Rain was expecting him to cross swordswith her, but he made no move to attack her. He could sense the fragments of Etro's power that remained with her, this was a battle to be fought another day.

"Come, Jivana, we'll finish this fight another time."

"But-" She caught his glare, then sighed and backed off of Rainbow. "Yes, master, as you wish..."

He sheathed his sword, then turned back to Rain. "Let this be a warning to you. If you dare to change the time line, I  _will_ kill you."

Caius stepped away from Rain, glaring at Lightning as he created a time rift for he and Jivana to go through. They both stepped through and vanished without another word. Then Lightning quickly shoved her gunblade away as she ran to Rain's side, with Rainbow right behind her.

"Rain!"

"Mom..." he muttered, fighting to stay conscious.

"Don't move." she said as she put pressure on his bleeding wounds. "You'll be okayjust stay with me!"

"Mom?" Rainbow repeated, looking back and forth between them in disbelief. She couldn't have heard that right...

"I'll explain later. Help me get him inside and tend to his wounds."

"Dad's not gonna be very happy about all this..."

"I know," she said as she gently picked up her now unconscious son in her arms. "Like I said, I'll explain everything later, right now we need to help Rain before he bleeds to death."

"Okay mom..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Lightning's married to two guys at once from different times/worlds and Rain is not a happy camper about it. Awkward much? XD


	6. V Truth

Lightning carried her unconscious son inside, then carefully laid him down on the bed. Rainbow followed close behind her. The woman slid Rain's jacket and scarf off him at once, then lifted his blood soaked shirt up to see his injuries. She flinched when she saw the two bleeding scratches across his chest, but thankfully they weren't too deep.

"Rainbow, get me some bandages and rubbing alcohol from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, then see if you can find your father's cure materia. If not get your cousin Claire, she's good with healing magic."

Nodding, the girl silently left to look for them, then came back moments later with the items her mother had asked for.

"How is he?"

"He should be fine," Lightning said as she calmly began to disinfect the wounds before bandaging them.

_Damn you Caius..._

"He doesn't look so good...Are you sure he's gonna be ok?"

"I've seen a lot worse."

Mainly on the battlefield, and back then they didn't have the aid of any cure on his wounds had stopped the bleeding, and sped up the healing process, otherwise, Rain would definitely need stitches. However, even then, Lightning still hated to see him hurt like this. All he had gotten as a kid were a few minor scratches, scrapes, and bruises that were common for any child to get. Caius would pay for hurting him.

When she finished tightly bandaging his wounds, Rain groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Mom?"

"Just rest, you're safe now."

"Ok..." he muttered as he fell back asleep.

"Mom, can you please tell me what's going on? Why does he keep calling you 'mom'?"

Just then, the front door swung open; Cloud had come back from his morning deliveries.

"I'm home."

"Just in time," Rainbow muttered.

A moment later he walked into the guest room. His eyes widened at the unconscious and bandaged Rain.

"What happened?"

"Yes, mom, what's going on?"

She sighed as she looked at both of them. "Where to begin..." shemuttered. "You two better sit down for this..."

They both followed her into the living room, and softly closed the guest room door behind them before settling down on the couch with worried and anxious faces.

"Claire, what happened? What happen to Rain?"

Lightning began to pace as she spoke. Her arms folded as she braced herself for what was to come.

"He was attacked by a man known as Caius Ballad, a man who wants to destroy all hope for the future, all so he can save the girl he protects from her endless cycle of death and rebirth, and Rain...he's my son..."

"WHAT?!" they chorused.

She had expected that reaction...

"Rain and I don't belong here, we came from a parallel world to this one where the time line has been altered. In that time line Serah and a man named Noel defeated Caius, saved the future, and then went on to have Kristof while I settled down with Hope and had Rain, Ashling, and Faith. Then for some reason Etro pulled me into this world, and I lost a chunk of my memory along the way."

She had also been reversed back to twenty one again, Etro's intention or just a side effect? She didn't know...Quick and to the point, but they just stared at her.

"Claire, are you okay? You're speaking nonsense."

"And now Kristof is the son of Serah? Hang on, mom, I'll bring you some tea."

She closed her eyes. They didn't believe her, not that she had expected them to, but she  _needed_  to get them to listen. It was a painful and crazy sounding truth, but it was still the truth.

"I have proof."

She quickly walked back to the guest room, grabbed the photo from Rain's jacket, then went into the kitchen and snatched her ring off the table before placing both objects in front of them.

"I know it's hard to believe but it's true...I'm sorry..."

They both fell silent as they stared at the objects in front of them, then Cloud slowly picked them both up.

"But..." He sighed. "I can't understand this."

With the photo and ring still in his hand, he stood up and walked towards the front door.

"Dad, where are you going?"

"I need some air." He then turned to look at his wife. "Claire, I just can't believe this from you." He walked right out the door, and half slammed it behind him.

"Cloud, wait!" She moved to follow him, but then looked back at Rainbow. "Watch after Rain, I'll be right back" Then she left to follow Cloud.

Rainbow sighed as she was left alone, still not fully believing that this was actually happening. So Rain was her half brother...It certainly explained what he had been yelling about earlier, and she also remembered him referring to her as his sister in battle. She remembered that he had looked a little hurt when she had explained that Cloud was her father and not Hope. It all made sense now, even him having their mother's old gunblade.

"So now you know the truth..." She heard Rain say from the other room.

Getting up, she walked to the guest room and saw that he was indeed alive and awake, but hadn't dared to move with his injuries. She mainly wondered when he had woken up and how much he had heard.

"Honestly, I didn't want to believe it myself..."

"You shouldn't talk much, you need to rest."

"I have to ask you something first," Rain said. "During the fight you recognized Caius, but how is that possible?"

She sighed. "It was in a dream..."

"What kind of dream?" Rain asked, now curious.

"It was a while ago...I don't remember much of it, but I saw her fighting Caius in some place called Valhalla or something..."

"Mom fought Caius in Valhalla for three years, and aunt Serah said she had a dream like that too before Noel showed up...I sure hope you don't have the eyes..."

"Like an oracle or something?" She asked, not exactly sure what he was talking about. "I doubt it. I had that dream ages ago, and nothing like it since."

"Good. Aunt Serah died from seeing too much..." he muttered.

It was out before he realized it. He hadn't meant to spill something like that, but it was once again too late and Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise.

"In your universe our aunt passed away?"

"Yeah...right when mom disappeared. Kristof was only a couple months old..."

"Poor kid..."

To grow up never knowing his mother, that sounded terrible...

"Yeah...Listen, I'm sorry you got wrapped up in all this..."

He then slowly closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Knowing that Rain had to be exhausted, Rainbow quietly left the room and softly closed the door behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lightning had stormed out the door after Cloud, and saw him on his motorcycle, Fenrir, ready to leave. Her eyes widened at once.

"Don't you dare!"

She marched over to him and stood in front of the motorcycle to block his path. He wasn't going anywhere, not on her watch.

"Listen to me Cloud, I know this is all hard to believe right now, but know that I still love you."

"How you can love me when you have another family? Another husband!"

"It's not my fault I forgot!" Lightning said as she banged her fist on his motorcycle. "I know it's terrible, Rain already yelled at me and said I was a horrible mother and an unfaithful wife, but you both need to understand that I didn't choose to forget! Why would I?"

"How you can forget something like that? Please move out of my way."

"I'm not moving," she said firmly. "And I want my ring back." she added, holding out her hand for it.

"Fine. Take mine too then."

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard him say that, then he yanked off his wedding ring and slapped both rings into her hand.

"So that's it then? You're just going to leave us? Cloud, don't be like this!"

"Look who's talking! You have another family so you don't need me anymore, but Rainbow's staying with me."

"I never said I'd leave you!"

She was getting more irritated and frustrated with him by the second. Why couldn't he be reasonable?

"Unlike you, I need some time to think before making rash decisions!"

"Get out of my way, Claire."

"If you want me to move, you're going to have to make me!"

He sighed."I don't wanna talk about this any more."

"Well, right now I'm not going anywhere," Lightning said as she folded her arms.

Silence followed, and the tension slowly calmed with it. Finally, Lightning stepped out of his way, but gently put her hand on top of his.

"Please, Cloud, you have to help us find Faith. If Caius finds her before we do, he'll kill her!"

He glanced up at her, and noticed her eyes had softened. Faith was her child, maybe not related to him, but he knew that if something terrible happened to her then she would be devastated.

"Alright. I'll help you."

He swung off his motorcycle, and she smiled softly at him. It appeared she had brought him to his senses.

"I'm sorry for my conduct, this is just a lot to handle..."

"I know..." she said as she gave him his ring back, then hugged him. "Thank you, and I really do love you Cloud, please remember that."

"I'm sorry Claire," was all he said as he returned her hug.

"Its okay, well figure this out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love family drama XD Fortunately it's not gonna get more complicated for them than that...Or is it? *Rubs hands mischievously*


	7. VI Family

_**"**_ Still no sign of her."

Rain sighed as he heard the update on the search for his sister. It had been a week already, and while he had been forced to stay inside while he recovered from his injuries, Lightning, Cloud, and Rainbow had spent most of it out looking for Faith.

Claire had been more then willing to come by and look after Kristof, which had left Rain alone for most afternoons. In short, he was not only bored as hell, but also felt useless. Out of a desire to try and do something, he had used Rainbow's laptop with her permission. He of course didn't tell her that his goal was to try and hack into The Academy's database to see if they had  _any_  idea about what was going to become of the Crystal pillar in 500AF, but as it turned out he had overestimated this time's technology. To him it was so primitive it wasn't even funny.

"Nothing?"

He gently closed the laptop and easily sat up from the couch. His injuries had healed quite nicely, and quickly, too, thanks to Claire's medic magic. Of course he still felt drained from it all, so Lightning ordered him to take it easy.

Lightning shook her head as she slid out of her boots and left them by the door.

"No one's seen anyone matching her description here, in Oerba, Academia, or any of the neighboring villages."

She had even filled out an official missing persons report, but nothing turned up.

"Don't worry Claire, we'll find her soon."

Rain couldn't help narrowing his eyes at Cloud as he placed a comforting hand on his mom's shoulder. They hadn't spoken much this past week, but he didn't like him either way. He was stealing his mother from Hope, and the fact that he kept calling her by her real name just pissed him off.

He shoved his anger aside, and focused on what mattered right now: finding Faith.

"You don't think that Caius could've already found her first, do you?"

"Dont think like that!" Lightning told him. "We can't give up hope!"

_Yeah look who's talking..._

"I'm going to my room..." Rainbow muttered, with her head down as she excused herself and walked past them.

"Speaking of hope, what are we gonna do about our other problem?" Rain asked as he glanced out the window at Cocoon.

"Right..." Lightning muttered following Rain's gaze. "500AF..."

She had been so focused on the problem at hand that she had forgotten about the long term one.

"It's doomed to fall now, isn't it? Caius will get what he wants..." Rain muttered sadly.

"I don't know Rain, I just don't know..."

"Please, don't start to talk like this, we must be positive."

The words sounded strange coming from Cloud, even to him.

"Cloud, you don't understand. In 500AF the crystal pillar holding up Cocoon becomes unstable and it comes crashing to the ground and kills millions. By 700AF humanity with be on the brink of dying out." Lightning explained

"And without Hope we're pretty much done for." Rain added.

"Really? And this 'Caius' is behind it all?"

"I believe he is." Lightning spat in anger as she clenched her fists. "I don't know this for sure, but I bet he's the one who killed Hope, Yeul must've seen him build the new Cocoon and Caius sought to stop it."

It was her theory now, anyway.

"And we can't kill him right? Otherwise the goddess would die and both worlds would be consumed by chaos."

"Right." Lightning answered. "I'm sure the only reason the goddess is still alive is because the Caius here is too, but who knows how much weaker she's become..."

"One problem right after another." Rain sighed annoyingly. "It's probably safe to say it cant get much worse."

Putting the laptop on the table, Rain got up and made his way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. There was a pot already made, so he found a mug in the cabinet and poured himself some, rubbing his aching forehead while doing so. That damn head ache was back again...

"Rain?" Lightning asked worriedly noticing his pained expression.

"Its just a head ache..."

It had come and gone ever since he had ended up in this world. Each time it progressively seemed to get worse, causing him to get worried about it. He crossed his fingers that it was really nothing though.

"I'll see if I can find you some aspirin."

Lightning began to make her way to the bathroom to search the medicine cabinet, but was interrupted when she heard the sudden shattering of glass followed by a thud. Spinning around at once in alarm, she saw that Rain had suddenly collapsed on the floor without warning.

"Rain!"

She and Cloud were at his side at once.

"Somethings wrong, he wouldn't just collapse like this." Lightning commented worriedly as she gently rolled him over. She put her ear to his chest and heard his steady breathing and heart beat, but was still worried. "He's just unconscious but...Why?"

"His wounds have all healed haven't they? What could've caused this?"

She shook her head, then gently picked him up and moved him to the couch.

"Why is this happening?"

Cloud gently wrapped his arms around her in hopes of comforting her a bit.

"Should we take him to the hospital?"

She shook her head and gently pulled away.

"That's not a good idea. He doesn't exist here, no previous medical records or even a birth certificate. There's no way to prove that I'm his mother, they'll ask too many questions."

Then it clicked, and her eyes widened in realization as she paled.

"He's not supposed to exist here..." she repeated.

Before Cloud could say a word she turned and entered the guest room to check on Kristof. He was currently laying down, looking both tired and in a bit of pain.

"Are you feeling alright Kristof?" She asked kneeling beside the bed.

"My head hurts..."

Nodding, she gently stroked his head for a moment, told him she would get him some aspirin in a moment and to rest in the mean time. Then she got up and left the room, letting out a curse once he was out of earshot. Cloud had followed her the whole time, and she guessed he too had figured it out.

"They're dying in this world aren't they?"

She nodded. Here they were just walking paradoxes that weren't actually supposed to exist...And it was killing them. They needed to find Faith and get them all home as soon as possible now.

* * *

"Alright." Hope said as he turned away from his computer and back to Noel. "I checked the data three times now. I can confirm that they indeed are in a parallel world, and while I can't say what year they are in, I can say that they appear to be in that world's New Bodhum."

He then picked up the artefact Noel had given him. "I think if we take this artefact to our New Bodhum, a gate should appear and well be able to go through.

"Good. I hope the kids and Kristof are alright, I'll never forgive myself if something terrible happened..."

Hope frowned, knowing full well how he felt after that kidnapping incident five years ago. If only they had been able to save them just a few minutes sooner than they had...

"I'm sure Rain's taking good care of him and protecting him." He tried to assure Noel. "I called Sazh, he can give us a ride."

He stood up, then winced at the sudden pain and grabbed his injured side. Noel took a step towards him to try and help, but he waved him off and bore through the pain.

"I just hope nothing bad is happening over there, like... agh, why am I thinking about Caius in a moment like that? I don't want another problem." Noel muttered, causing Hope to frown.

"There's no telling what situation the other world is in, we have no idea what we'll be walking into."

It was the truth Hope didn't want to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit nervous and worried. I don't want to lose my only son..."

"I know." Hope put his hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him. "And we're going to bring our children back safe and sound."

"Thank you my friend."

"Are you ready to go then?"

"Yeah."

Sazh flew them to New Bodhum in his air ship, as planned, and dropped them off right on the beach. He wished them the best of luck, and said to call if they needed any other help. Hope and Noel thanked him and watched him fly off, then went to work. Hope used his paradox level reading device to track the exact location of the high paradox levels. Once they reach the farthest western part of the beach, they found the space around them warping and twisting just as they had seen by the lake before.

"I was right..."

Hope took out the artefact, then shoved it into it and a permanent gate manifested moments later.

"Last chance to turn back." He warned.

Noel shook his head.

"Let's go."

"Right." he said, then did not hesitate to jump through with him.

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side, Snow was out for a walk along the beach with Serah. It was nice to have some quiet alone time, and they knew their kids were old enough to take care of themselves for a while, so they weren't worried. Snow smiled at his wife and put his arm around her, but the mood disappeared when the space in front of them became the area became twisted in the time paradox, and then the gate between both worlds manifested.

"What the-? Stand back Serah!"

Snow at once stepped in front her protectively. He half expected some monsters to come out of that gate and attack them, but instead Hope and Noel were thrown out, both of them landing on one knee in the sand.

"Hope?" They both chorused, both of them pale and stunned at seeing him alive and much older.

Naturally, Hope and Noel had similar reactions seeing them as well. However once Noel caught sight of Snow with Serah his eyes softened, mirroring his aching heart. Hope frowned at him, guessing what he was mentally going through and placed a hand on his shoulder as if to say "I'm sorry."

"You're supposed to be dead!" Snow shouted, snapping them both out of their thoughts.

"What?" Hope whispered, eyes widening. "I'm...dead?"

"This really is a different world..." Noel muttered.

"What are you guys talking about? Hope how are you alive, and who is this anyway?"

"It's a long story..." Hope said softly, scratching the back of his head.

"A very long story but we don't have time to explain it. Have you have seen a boy with pink hair and a little child with brown hair?" Noel asked, wanting to find his son immediately to make sure he was alright.

"That sounds like Rain and Kristof," Snow said, turning to Serah. "Right?"

"Kristof! where is he?"

"And what about Faith? Have you seen her, too?" Hope added.

"No we haven't found her." Serah apologized shaking her head.

"But Rain and Kristof are at Light's house though, just down the street." Snow said

"Lightning? Hope! You know what that means? It looks like you were right about her!"

"But it may not be my Light."

He was doubtful, but at the same time he was holding onto the hope that it  _was_  his Light. Still, at the same time he didn't allow himself to get all worked up about it in case it wasn't.

"We have to see!"

"I'm not getting my hopes up."

"Whatever." Noel then turned back to Snow. "Where did you say her house was again?"

"Right at the end of the village, I'll take you there." Snow offered.

Snow looked like he was more than a little lost and confused, but he wanted to help anyway.

* * *

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were feeling like this?" Lightning demanded as she folded her arms.

It had been a couple hours since Rain had collapsed. Cloud had left for a few short deliveries, and Rainbow was in her room playing with Kristof. Lightning had been pacing around anxiously for Rain to wake up, and when he finally did she wasn't to happy.

"I thought it was nothing alright? And frankly your yelling is really not helping my head right now."

Lightning sighed as their attitudes clashed. She made herself calm down, and a moment later continued.

"Just be careful and don't push yourself alright? That'll probably just make it worse."

Understanding, Rain nodded. Then seconds later, Snow walked in without any warning, not even bothering to knock.

"Hey sis. You're probably not gonna believe this, but Hope's here."

Her eyes widened at once, but did see that both Hope and Noel were right behind him.

"Lightning?" Noel asked.

"Dad!" Rain bolted up from the couch at once and ran to him. "What are you doing here? You should still be in the hospital!"

"I was worried sick about you." Hope said as he hugged his son.

Kristof, having heard his father's voice from the other room ran down the hall. Once he indeed saw that it was him, he brightened up immediately and ran to him at once.

"Daddy!"

"Kristof!" He had never been so happy to hug his son. "Are you right?"

"I'm good, dad."

"Good, you're both ok." Hope said, relieved before turning back to Rain. "What about your sister?"

"No sign of her..."

Sighing with worry, he glanced over at Lightning. She had been standing there silently the whole time, just staring at him...

"I heard that I'm dead in this world, it must be quite a shock to see me..."

"That's our Light, dad…" Rain told him.

Hearing that made his heart skip a beat, but he saw her nod as she glanced down at her feet nervously.

"It's really you?" He asked, eyes wide as he walked over to her. "Oh Goddess I've missed you so much..." He was almost in tears as he gave her a hug, then briefly kissed her. "My Light." he said smiling. He gently took her hands, then fell silent when he noticed her ring. "That's...Not the ring I gave you..."

Things got tense at once. Sensing drama and that they needed to be alone, Noel quietly took Kristof's hand and led him outside. Snow followed, a million questions running through his mind.

"Mind telling me what the heck is going on around here?" They heard Snow mutter to Noel.

"Honestly, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Light, what's going on?" Hope asked, staring at her in disbelief.

Rain just glared at his mother, and left the room without another word. "Drama alert." he said to Rainbow as he poked his head in her room. Raising an eyebrow, she poked her head out and caught a glimpse of Hope.

"Your dad's here? Oh, oh... This will be a big problem..."

"Yeah..." Rain muttered before he sighed. "Again I'm really sorry you got dragged into this..."

She fell silent, then sighed and curled up. It was clear to him that she wanted to be alone for a while, so he let her be.

Back in the living room, Lightning had explained everything that had happened to her since the night she disappeared:

" _I'll be back soon."_

_Lightning gave Hope a quick kiss before she left for patrol, having been called in due to short staff._

" _Come back safe and sound."_

" _You know I will, Hope."_

_She didn't look back after that, but softly heard the door close behind her. She sighed softly as she drew her gunblade as she walked away from her home, switching it into gun mode and holding having it by her side as she tightly gripped it. She too switched her mind from caring wife and mother to stern cold soldier, guard up and only to be dropped when she retired to bed after her shift would be over._

_The first few miles were dead quiet, the streets inactive, not many people out at this hour. Of course that was all the more reason to be alert,you could never know what could be silently be lurking in the shadows. She was prepared for anything around each dark corner, or at least that's what she thought._

_As she stepped around another corner, guard still up and ready for any unfriendly surprises she faced something unexpected: The chaos of Valhalla leaking out of a portal, coming right for her. It was exactly the same as last time, but this time she was actually afraid. Afraid of being yanked out of her now happy life, leaving behind her children, possibly being forgotten or labeled as dead to the world like last time._

_She didn't hesitate to turn and run, knowing what the outcome would be if it succeeded in grabbing a hold of her. But just like last time, it was futile. She didn't even need to trip and fall this time for it to catch up and grab her by the waist. Her struggling against it didn't do anything either, she was yanked through to the Historia Crux._

_Time itself had reversed for her, turning her back to twenty one. Her memories of everything that had happened after the battle with Orphan vanished when she landed in the parallel world, head smacking against the ground before her wedding ring slipped off her finger. The others had awoken from their crystal sleep moments later, so none of them ever noticed anything strange. As for the other Lightning, the one that had actually belonged in this world...History was altered to prevent a massive paradox. That Lightning was trapped in the crystal pillar along with Vanille and Fang..._

"I...I see." Hope said when she was finally done. He let go of her hands and kept his head down.

He didn't know what else to say. He had patiently listened to every word, and knew it wasn't her fault, but he still felt heart broken. How could this have happened?

"I'm really sorry Hope, I don't-"

"You don't love me anymore?" he asked, looking her in the eyes now. "Is that it?"

"I swear I still love you."

"...You do realize you're going to have to chose then, right?"

She fell silent once more, but he could tell that she had already realized that before.

"I won't pressure you on it, and I'll respect your decision either way, but once this is all over the gate between the two worlds will most likely close...You'll be stuck in which ever world you choose."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's ok..."

He suddenly hissed in pain, grabbing his injured and bandaged side. Lightning flinched and was about to reach out and help him, but, naturally, that was when Rain came back in and ran over to him once he saw what was going on.

"Dad!"

"I'm ok, it's just a couple scratches..."

"This is all your fault!" Rain said, glaring at Lightning.

"Rain!"

"You're supposed to protect him! Look what happens when you don't!"

"I know... it's my fault..." She whispered, lowering her head in guilt.

"Both of you stop it." Hope said sternly, getting over the pain. "Rain, apologize to your mother."

"No."

"Rainstorm!"

But he didn't listen, he walked away, glaring at Lightning the whole time.

"If you break his heart, I will NEVER forgive you." and with that he walked right out the front door, and slammed it loudly behind him.

"Don't listen to him, Light." he said, holding her hand once more. "It's not your fault I got injured, I just wasn't careful that's all."

She was silent, a sign that she really was blaming herself for his injuries, like Rain had said.

"Don't beat yourself up over this, we both know I'm not the best fighter around. I just couldn't handle myself when a pack of Behemoths attacked my research team out in the field and I got scratched up a bit."

"Thanks Hope..."

"I'll be...Fine..."

He suddenly felt himself get dizzy, then fell unconscious. She caught him at once, panicking. Was it because of his injuries, or because like Rain and Kristof he wasn't supposed to exist in this world? Either one of them made her worry, and she wondered if it could possibly be a mix of both. Lifting up his uniform shirt for a moment, she saw that his bandages both looked and felt rather fresh. He wasn't bleeding then, that was a good sign.

She sighed, and guessed that it was indeed the paradox effect, she gently got up and laid him back on the couch. Moments later the front door softly opened, and Cloud walked in.

"I'm home."

She flinched in shock, not knowing what to say when she turned to him.

"What happened?" He asked, eyes darting back to her and Hope.

"He and Noel came looking for Rain to make sure he was alright, he's injured. That and since he's not supposed to exist here he's..."

He nodded, no need for her to finish. She sighed as she stepped away from Hope, and looked up at Cloud.

"I...I need to talk to you."

"About what? Look, I brought you a rose and I know is your favorite."

He smiled as he handed it to her.

"I...Thanks..." she said, taking it as she forced a smile. "But..."

Oh he was making this so much harder now...

"Something wrong?" He asked frowning.

Apparently this was pretty serious.

"Cloud...I've been having nightmares lately, about Hope being killed." she couldn't help glance back over to him on the couch, then glanced down. "He needs me..."

His heart skipped a beat.

"What?"

"I haven't decided yet, but I'm going to have to choose between you and him..."

"What are you talking about? First you tell me Rain is your son and now this?"

"I told you I love you both, and it's true. I don't want to hurt either of you, or leave any of my children, but..."

"What about Rainbow?"

"If I leave, she'll stay with you..."

"But she needs you, she's still a child and needs her mom."

"She's not supposed to exist in the other world Cloud, she'll die. You've already seen what's happening with Rain..."

He sighed, apparently not having any more to say.

"I'm sorry..." She muttered.

He just silently walked past her. When she went to go set the rose on the counter, she heard their bedroom door softly shut. When she glanced back over at Hope, she saw him slowly sitting up and rubbing his head as he regained consciousness, apparently not as seriously effected as she thought.

"Light?" Hope asked, looking around for her.

"I'm here."

She walked over to him, but he frowned when he saw the look of guilt and confusion in her eyes.

"What happened?"

"I talked to Cloud and..."

"...Do you want me to leave for a while? I can wait in the other New Bodhum on the other side of the gate..."

"I don't' know..."

"I don't want to complicate things..."

"I know, but I have another child."

"I see..." he muttered. "That does complicate things..."

Another man, another child...He was losing her...

"Let's not forget about Faith." Rain said as he walked back inside, still angry and frustrated, even though he had tried to take a long walk to get rid of that. "Do you have any idea how many times she's cried because she's missed you? And Ashling-"

"Rain!" Hope warned, making him shut his mouth.

"Humph." he muttered as he, too, left the room.

Hope sighed and shook his head. "He got your attitude that's for sure..."

"Yeah..." She had definitely noticed that, it made her smile a bit. "That's my boy, certainly not my little Rain drop anymore."

"He's really taken after you...He even wants to join the Guardian Corps."

"Rainbow, too."

"Rainstorm and Rainbow huh?" he said, smiling a bit. "It fits."

She chuckled, making him smile more.  _That_  was the Light he wanted to see.

"I know, it's a good name."

"Is she like you, too?"

"No, of course not. Cloud is like me but Rainbow is a very happy girl, rarely gets sad."

"Hm, wonder where she got that from then..."

"I think she's a little angel who wants to heal our soul."

"I bet she and Faith would get along well then...And you're sure there's been no sign of her?" he asked more than a little worried.

"I don't know where she can be, unless..." It finally clicked, and her eyes widened. "God I'm an idiot! Why didn't I think of that before!"

"What? What is it?"

"Valhalla..."

Hope's heart skipped a beat. No wonder why she looked scared now.

"…That's…a problem then. If Faith's in Valhalla... Caius can come and go there as he pleases right?"

"I fear so."

He bit his lip.

"I'll do some research and figure out if there's any possibility of getting there, or getting her out." He then glanced out the window at Cocoon. "I can also give my notes on the new Cocoon to The Academy so they can be prepared when it falls. Is my father still alive in this world?"

"Don't know, haven't seen or heard from him in years."

"Do you think you could find out for me? If he is then he'll most likely be the director and I can give my notes to him. He'll be shocked about seeing me alive I'm sure, but it's our only chance..."

"Right, I'll do it."

"Thanks Light." he said smiling at her, before giving her a quick kiss. "I'll be on the other side gathering all this information we need. If you need to see me the gate's on the western part of the beach."

"Okay."

"I'll see you soon then." he said before he left, frowning after he did so.

He found Noel sitting on the beach, keeping a close eye on Kristof as he played with the other welcoming kids around.

"Noel...Do you think she'll come back with us?"

"She's got another family here doesn't she?" He guessed and he nodded sadly.

"I don't know then..."

_But I need her..._

He just sighed, and headed towards the gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter is long? And late update too...Reasons? School was a bitch with finals blah and then I had ACEN a week after. I also haven't gotten a single comment since chapter 3 so that's not really helping my motivation here...Did I scare everyone off with that plot twist or what?


	8. VII Death

"Faith?"

It was that same afternoon. Kristof once again asked Claire to play with him outside, and the other kids had dragged them both into a game of hide and seek. Naturally Claire volunteered to be the finder, so everyone ran off in search of their hiding spot, all of them knowing to stay inside the village.

But Kristof had caught a glimpse of someone with long silver hair leaving the village, and that distracted him. At once he thought for sure it was Faith, and the game and being told countless times to stay inside the village were both forgotten as he ran after her.

"Faith!"

He had found her! Oh how proud he felt, and he knew everyone else would be happy and congratulate him on finding her at last. He didn't know it was really Yeul he was chasing after, nor did she notice she was being followed.

* * *

Right when Claire was about to finish counting and start hunting down all the kids, a few raindrops fell on her. She stopped, looked up and sighed. It was to be expected, though, since it was the rainy season.

Already she could see disappointed kids coming out of their hiding places and running inside before it started pouring. All of them except one...

"Kristof?" She called getting slightly worried.

No answer.

"Kristof come out please! It's time to go inside!"

Nothing. This of course made her worry even more, but she tried not to panic as she began looking around for him as she continued to call for him.

"Something wrong?"

She nearly jumped she was so startled, and turned around to find Rain standing behind her.

"I-I can't find Kristof."

"What?" He asked, eyes wide before he turned to face the villages' exit.

"He wouldn't..." Claire began, knowing full well that he knew better.

"Caius could be out there..." He muttered. He had a very bad feeling in his gut.

"Who?"

"Just tell Noel okay? I'm gonna go look for him."

He was off before she could say another word. Hearing someone else calling out for Kristof, she turned and saw Noel walking around looking for him as well only a few yards away.

"Noel!"

She ran over to him with worry and guilt all over her face.

"I-I'm sorry I only took my eyes on him for a moment and he ran off...I can't find Kristof anywhere!"

"What?!" Panic was instantly all over his face. "Oh no this isn't good... Where could he be?"

"Rain left the village to try and find him...He said something about someone named Caius?"

"Caius! That idiot! If he's out there then he shouldn't be wandering about!"

"Look I don't know what's going on, but I'm willing to help look for him. I can fight a little..." She drew her metal staff. "If I have to..."

He stiffened, apparently those words bothered him...She didn't know her mother had said them once.

"No, it's too dangerous. Stay here and let me go find them."

"But it's my fault that this happened! I should've been keeping a better eye on him..."

"Stay here, end of the discussion."

"I'm sorry but I can't do that, my conscience won't let me."

And with that she turned and quickly headed outside the village in hopes of finding Kristof. Noel sighed and shook his head. Apparently she had both her parents' determination...That determination was probably going to get her killed one day, too.

* * *

"Damn it!"

Rain cursed as he cut down yet another monster in his path, getting more and more frustrated as he got slowed down by them.

_What the hell were you thinking, Kristof?_

How many times had he clearly told him NOT to go wandering off on his own? He always said he wouldn't...Yet now he had.

Looking back he saw that the village was probably a little over a mile away now, how far could he have gotten?

_And with all these monsters crawling around..._

That brought terrible images to mind that he quickly shoved away as quickly as they came. No, Kristof was not getting beaten or eaten by some terrible monster that he couldn't fight off, he was fine, and going to be that way when he found him and brought him back.

As he rounded a cliff's corner, he was relieved for a brief moment when he saw Kristof standing there in front of him, but that relief disappeared at once when he saw that Caius and that blonde haired girl were there, too.

Kristof had followed Yeul right to them without any of them knowing it. Once the boy had realized his mistake he had frozen, for he too had heard what Caius had looked like and knew it was him.

Rain stepped in front of his cousin at once, gently pushing him back and screaming for him to run. That snapped him out of it, and he did as he was told while Rain cast a fire spell at the air. He hoped someone would see it and come to investigate, for he already knew that these two were way too much for him to handle. His plan was to buy Kristof some time to get away, and then to slip away himself when he had the chance.

"I'll leave this one to you." Caius ordered as he casually knocked Rain out of the way with his sword and began to follow Kristof.

"Yes, master."

"No!"

He got up at once, determined to somehow stop Caius long enough like he planned, but he was once again knocked back down by an aero spell. Clearly this girl wasn't going to let him go after him, so he got up with a curse and got ready to fight.

"Tell me something," Rain said as he drew his gunblade and pointed it at her. "Who exactly are you, and why are you with Caius?!"

"What do you care? It's none of your business!" the girl replied, "I only came here to destroy you. You're in the way of my master."

"And I'm making it my business if I have to fight you, especially if your blood is going to end up on my hands."

He took his stance, but she just laughed.

"You? With my blood in your hands? HA! So funny, so so funny but this is not the time for jokes. I hope you enjoyed this beautiful day, because it is your last."

She drew her throwing knives. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I highly doubt that."

Drip. Rain glanced up for only a second, then the rain came pouring down without any further warning. Was this what she meant by 'Beautiful day?' He wasn't sure if she knew his name or not, but if she did then she was clearly being ironic now.

"Thanks..." he muttered sarcastically as he turned his eyes back to the enemy. "So are you going to answer my question or am I going to have to force it out of you?

"Thanks for what?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're strange..."

"I was talking to the weather, thank you very much." He snapped. "Frankly  _you're_  the strange one here. Pretty, but strange."

"Everyone's strange in this mad world, and thanks for the compliment, but I will still kill you."

She smiled at him, most likely mocking him, but two could play that game.

"So far you're just all talk."

She scowled at him, then finally started the battle when she cast Blizzard at him. Rain muttered a curse since magic wasn't his strong suit and he only knew basic spells, but he was still able to counter with fire before the attack reached him. His spell melted the ice and created a cloud of steam in the air.

"I'm still waiting for you to answer my question," the young man asked again.

"Why are you so interested in knowing?" his enemy snapped. "You just want to ruin Caius' plans! He's good! You are bad! Everyone is bad!"

"Don't you know he's trying to wipe out humanity?!" he shouted. "Look around you! Pulse is full of life, but if Caius gets his way this place will be a barren wasteland, and everyone will be dead! Is that what you want?"

"He will purify the earth! With new people, new ways to think, and a better future! A new world!"

"You've been brain washed! The only better future is the one my father made possible, the one where everyone lives peacefully on the new Cocoon, and most importantly, where Caius no longer exists! Walking paradox here or not, that's the future I come from!"

"SHUT UP!"

She then cast Ruin at him, and while he tried to block it with his sword, he got knocked down by it anyway. He quickly recovered though and hopped right back up like it never happened.

"Caius was defeated long before I was born, and I'm guessing Yeul is gone too. And you..." He pointed his sword at her once more. "I've never heard of anyone like you in the stories I've heard, so I'll ask again: who are you, and why are you in league with Caius?"

She gritted her teeth the moment he mentioned Yeul, and clenched her fists.

"Don't... Mention... YEUL!" Another Ruin spell tossed at him. This time, he was able to just barely dodge. "I hate that name! I'm not just a shadow!" Her anger fueled her energy, and she began to release many ruin spells at him right after another. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"

"Shit," he muttered as he quickly cast protect on himself and braced for the blows. He was hit by each and every one of them, but once again was able to weakly stand up and grab his sword. He was only barely standing now though, for every part of him throbbed in pain.

"Looks like I hit a nerve there...You jealous? Makes sense, after all, all of Caius' actions have all been for her, all to save her. He's been driven mad by seeing her die countless times, I get that, but that doesn't give him the right to kill innocent people and destroy the future!"

"I'm so much better than that little girl! I'm much stronger! Maybe I have the essence of that poor soul, but she and I will never be the same, because I'm better!"

Rain could tell she was getting ready to launch more spells at him. With the way things were going right now, he needed to turn things around fast or he was done for. He had to stop being on the defensive and actually attack for once. He had enough energy for one more spell...He just hoped it would be enough to at least turn the tables.

He sighed as he gathered all the remaining energy he had for it, then released it all at once. She gasped, and tried to shield herself from his spell, but it was no use. If Snow had been there, he would recognize it immediately, for it was the same spell that Hope had used on him to knock him off the roof back in Palumpolum.

"Damn..." She muttered, as she half struggled to stand up. "Don't believe that will save you."

He let out another curse as he saw she was still able to stand and fight just fine, while he was panting heavily from that spell and knew he couldn't hold out much longer.

"Guess you really are strong..." he muttered as he panted from that last spell. "But I'm not done yet!"

He began to reach for the second gunblade his mom had lent him, but as soon as he finished speaking he felt his heart skip a beat, and he gasped for breath.

_"Just be careful and don't push yourself alright? That'll probably just make it worse."_

_No, not now please!_

He dropped his weapons and fell to his knees in pain as he fought both to breath and stay conscious. His mom had been right...

"Aww you exhaust yourself lil' boy?" His adversary mocked as she approached him. "Don't worry, I will put an end to this." She raised one of her knives to stab, and he once again found himself looking death in the eye. How was he going to get out of this  _again_?

* * *

Claire continued to walk outside the village, with her eyes peeled for any signs of Kristof. Like Rain, she ran into a few monsters that she had to knock out of the way, but her weapon wasn't made to kill them so she just had to knock them out and keep going.

She was about a half a mile away from the village when Kristof came around the cliff's corner towards her. Relief flooded her at once, but she quickly noticed that he seemed to be running from something. She watched as he tripped and fell, then Caius slowly came around the corner, his normal steps enough to catch up to him. She guessed that this was the man named Caius that Rain had mentioned, and while she didn't have a clue as to what he wanted she made a dash for them both when she saw him raise his sword against Kristof.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

She reached them just in time to yank Kristof out of the way. She could also tell that Caius hadn't seen her by the look of surprise on his face. It was too late for him to stop his sword, but Claire quickly raised her staff to block the blow.

It failed. His sword easily split the staff into two like a toothpick, then impaled her through the chest. At once she made a gagging sound as she gasped for breath, while her now broken and useless weapon clanged to the ground.

"Damn it..." Caius muttered. It had been an accident, his only target was the boy.

"Claire!" Kristof shouted, staring in horror.

"Kristof!"

Spinning around he could see his father running towards him, with both swords drawn.

"Dad! Caius is here!"

Noel froze when he saw Claire. Caius removed his sword, which caused her to gasp as she fell to the ground and clutched her bleeding wound. She wouldn't last long.

"This is what happens when people stand in my way...You are nothing more than a paradox causing harm and must be destroyed," Caius spat angrily at Noel and Kristof.

"Claire! Damn you! Damn you Caius!"

"You brought this upon yourselves. You are to blame for the girl's fate, and any effects it will have on the timeline."

Noel charged at him in rage, but Caius easily blocked both of his swords.

"I will deal with you another time." He said as he overpowered Noel and knocked him back to the ground. "Let her death be a warning to you."

His heart of Chaos then began to glow an eerie red, and a Cloud of darkness surrounded him as he transformed into chaos Bahamut and flew away.

"You're ok..." Claire said weakly smiling at Kristof, not moving from where she had fallen as she tried to hang on to her last moments, knowing that she wasn't going to make it. "I guess I should've listened..." she whispered.

"Daddy..."

Kristof's voice was barely above a whisper as he stared down at Claire, no idea what he should do. Noel ran over to her at once, and placed his hands on her bleeding wounds hoping to slow the bleeding as he cast Curaga.

"No Claire! You'll be ok!"

"I...I'm sorry..." She could barely keep her eyes open now. "I'm glad I could save him..." Then she breathed her last breathe just as the rain began to pour down on them.

"STAY WITH ME!"

But she was already gone...

"Claire..." Kristof whispered again.

"Claire?"

Glancing up, Noel saw Nora only a few feet away. He had no idea what she was doing out here, but whatever it was now. she had unexpectedly stumbled upon the scene. She had paled immediately when she saw all the blood on her dear sister, her wide eyes filled with tears.

"No..." The tears came at once as she ran to her fallen twin. "NO!"

 _This is my fault..._ Noel thought.

If only he had grabbed her and prevented her from leaving the village, if only he had made her listen! First Yeul and then Serah...Why couldn't he protect anyone? Caius was right, Claire was dying all because she tried to protect Kristof. If they had never ended up in this world then this wouldn't be happening...They were just walking Paradoxes that brought harm to the time line.

"This can't be happening!" Nora screamed between sobs. 'Who did this to her?! WHY?!"

"Caius..." He muttered in anger clenching his fists.

Oh how he would pay for this...

"Why?" she said again sobbing over Claire. "Heroes never die..."

"I'm sorry, I tried to protect her..."

"I want to kill him! Kill whoever did this to Claire!"

"Dad...She...She's just sleeping right?"

"Yes son," He said softly as he gently held him. "She's sleeping..."

Nora said nothing, she just continued to sob.

* * *

Rain quickly tried to think of his options as the knife was about to come down on him, and he also fought for consciousness. He had to get out of this! He had to find Kristof and make sure he was ok before Caius got to him!

It was then when a gust of wind blew by, and his enemy looked up to see Caius, in Chaos Bahamut form, land on the ground close by. He then reverted back to his normal human form.

"Jivana, leave him for now."

"But master, I have him in my hands! Another moment and I can end it!"

"Obey and trust me." He ordered.

She sighed, and put her knife away.

"Alright master." She then glared down upon Rain. "Sorry lil' boy, I have to go. Guess you got lucky again."

Rain chuckled at the irony of the situation as he began to seep into unconsciousness. Apparently Etro or some great unknown force just didn't want him to die right now, but he guessed that he wouldn't get so lucky again.

"I dare you to ask Caius who he cares about more," he commented aloud, "you or Yeul." Then he passed out completely.

"Stupid boy." Jivana spat, and gave the unconscious young man a good kick in the side before she left to follow Caius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Claire's dead. It was either her or Nora, and while I figured it suited Nora a bit more to die a heroic death, I like her to much XD So Claire it was! I'm terrible aren't I?


	9. VIII Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if Faith seems like a hopeless little weakling here. When I coughed her out I tried to base her on young scared Hope...But yeah that won't be happening again.

Rain knew the moment he woke up back in the guest room that something was wrong. The house was too quiet. The air also had a depressing aura about it. He knew this feeling, the feeling that something terrible had happened...That some one had probably died.

"Kristof." He quickly whispered to himself, bolting up at once.

As he walked down the hall, he saw that Rainbow's door was closed tight, and he could hear faint sobs coming from inside. Entering the kitchen, he didn't find Lightning there, only Cloud looking rather gloomy as he sat at the table in silence, sipping what smelled like tea.

"What happened?" Rain demanded.

Cloud didn't glance up, but still answered him.

"Claire's dead."

* * *

Nora had locked herself in her room to sob her eyes out alone. Once she had entered, she was reminded that it was just her room now, not hers and Claire's, not even if her sister's stuff was still neatly organized on her side of the room, untouched just as she left it. Her bed hadn't even been made, showing that she had recently slept in it.

But Claire was gone now...

She collapsed upon her sister's bed in a fit of sobs, and buried her face in the pillow. She stayed there for what seemed like hours, crying her heart out. How was she going to live without her? She felt so empty inside, like part of her had died with her. Claire had wanted to help people, do something good with her life. What was she going to do? She had never known, now more than ever...

There was soon a soft knock at the door, that made her jump.

"Go away!"

"Please just hear me out..."

It was Rain. What the hell did he want?

"Just leave me alone!"

"Nora please! I know what you're going through!"

"You're lying..." She choked, burying her head back in the pillow.

"I'm not!"

"Then how the hell can you know how I feel!" She yelled sitting up and chucking the pillow at her closed door in anger.

"Because I, too, have lost a twin sister..." She heard him sigh. "Her name was Ashling..." He was choking on his words now, fighting back tears. "And she was murdered right in front of me..."

* * *

"There's something bothering you," Caius noted.

He narrowed his eyes at Jivana as they kept an eye on Yeul in the distance. They were a few miles away from New Bodhum. Close enough to plan a quick ambush, not so far away that they wouldn't be noticed.

"What did that boy tell you?"

"Uh, nothing important, I'm fine," she lied quickly, not looking him in the eye.

"You're lying." She flinched. "Don't lie to me Jivana." he warned sternly.

She sighed.

"Fine. He told me horrible things about you, that you want to destroy the world, you'll make a terrible future and all just to save Yeul, but I don't believe that! I know you wanna make this world a better place, master!"

"All my actions have been for Yeul's sake. The crystal pillar is doomed to crumble, and when that happens it will trigger the end of humanity. Only then will Yeul be free of her curse. The time line must not be altered, and as long as that those two boys are alive here they threaten it."

"...You really love Yeul so very much, right? That's the reason why you're doing all this."

"Yes. She does not deserve the fate Etro has burdened her with countless times."

"She suffers a cruel fate...It's not fair for anyone to live like that."

"Precisely. That is why we must free her from her fate at all costs. I murdered that Estheim boy seventeen years ago for that exact reason."

"He interfered with your plans?"

"Yuel foresaw that he was going to, so I took action. Those two boys that are here now have the same intentions, and, too, must be killed."

"Rain and Kristof..." She said the first name with disgust. How dare he spit lies about Caius and try to trick her! "Don't worry master, I'll take care of them. If it makes you happy to achieve our goal."

He nodded in approval, but couldn't help think of that girl that had gotten in his way...The one that he had ended up killing. He was relieved that Yeul hadn't sensed any change in the time line because of it, but he hoped that her death would be a lesson to them after all. He would kill anyone who got in his way, that much was certain, but he wanted to avoid it if necessary. Killing Hope in 3AF had killed the last Yeul after all...

"I've also learned of a girl that may soon pose a threat as well."

"Don't worry, that girl will be history."

"Good."

She was proving to be useful after all. Reaching for the power of chaos inside him, he waved his hand and created a temporary golden dimensional rift.

"That girl lies in Valhalla. While she may not be a threat to the time line now, we can not risk it. Go and kill her."

He pointed towards the rift and while she nodded, doubt crossed her face.

"Master...What will become of me after all this? May I see a field of lillies? You know they're my favorite flowers, especially the white ones."

"Complete your task and I will reward you as you wish, now go."

Smiling, she nodded again then knelt before him.

"Yes master, I won't fail you."

"Good, now go. The rift will remain open for you to get back, but you must be sure that she doesn't slip though

"I believe in you, master..." she said before she left.

* * *

Faith paled as she slowly backed away from Etro's empty throne. She was indeed in Valhalla, for the goddess had saved her from a terrible fate by summoning her there while Rain and Kristof had unexpectedly wound up in the parallel world.

She had Mog with her, so she didn't feel alone and frightened in the beginning like she would have if she were completely alone. But the realm was still deadly quiet...How had her mother been able to deal with it for three years?

At first she had wandered around looking for any kind of gate to get her out, but none was found. Instead, she had found Etro's throne, the very heart of Valhalla where she could view the time lines of  _both_ worlds. Since then, she had watched the events of what had happened since she had "disappeared", as well as the terrible future that was going to come into the world with the unwarped timeline should Caius get his way...

But now she was terrified for another reason, she had seen that Jivana was coming for her. Fear had set in immediately. How could she stand a chance against her? As Rain had said, she wasn't much of a fighter, even with Mog and her basic magic. Rain had barely stood a chance against her for Etro's sake. She was as good as dead.

Her instinct was to run and hide by herself somewhere. Maybe there was a way out after all and she would find it then, or so she hoped.

She turned to run, as Mog flew close behind her, but before she could get far, the rift that Caius created appeared in front of her, and Jivana stepped out. Faith stiffened at once, but quickly reached for Mog. Within a moment he had transformed into bow form in her hands, but she was trembling in fear.

"Stay back!" She warned, aiming at the other girl.

Jivana just smiled and chuckled as she walked towards her.

"I can see that you've never fought any one before. Not only is that not the correct way to hold a crossbow, but you're shaking too. Maybe your stupid brother can teach you, but lamentably he can't do it in this life!" She cast thundara directly at Faith without warning. "This will be so easy!"

Faith cried out in pain as the spell hit her and she fell to the ground. Still, she picked up the bow and fired an arrow at Jivana.

"Stay away from me!"

Her opponent dodged the arrow with ease, and began walking closer to her.

"Oh~ the little girl wants to cry~ and what's she gonna do? Cry for her mommy to save her? DONT BE STUPID!" Faith had tried to crawl away from Jivana, but she continued to advance and then punched the helpless girl in the stomach hard enough to not only knock the wind out of her, but also to make her cough up a bit of blood. "You're not a little kid anymore! No one's coming to save you, but don't worry I'll end your suffering in a minute."

Faith's eyes widened with fear as she saw another thunder spell crackling in her enemy's hands. Every inch of her body still throbbed with pain. She could barely move now. Her words had stung as well. She knew she wasn't that strong, but that didn't mean she was weak enough to cry for help in this moment. Even if she did, no one would come to her aid in this empty realm.

Was this how she was really going to die? She couldn't fight her way out of this one, but maybe she could convince her otherwise.

"No, please!" She begged as tears ran down her face. "I know I'm weak, but please don't kill me! I won't interfere with Caius' plans, I swear, I'll stay here, so please, don't!"

She could hear her own weakness in her own words...Oh how she felt pathetic. If she got out of this alive, she would need to get stronger so this never happened again.

"Sorry, but my master doesn't want to risk anything, so I have to kill you."

There was no real sympathy in her words, that much she could tell, but she could swear there was a faint glimmer of true apology in her eyes...

"Don't you understand what he's doing is wrong?" Faith cried. "Everything my brother told you is true! If you don't believe me then go over there and view the future of your world!" She pointed towards Etro's empty throne, where the time lines could be seen.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE ALL LYING!"

Jivana threw the spell at Faith, which caused the latter to let out an agonizing scream of pain before she curled up. With the energy she had left, Faith cast cure and regen on herself, hoping it would help.

"I don't wanna see anything! I trust in my master!"

"If you believe him then there's nothing to be afraid of seeing, but the time lines don't lie."

An idea came to her, and she gulped nervously. It was both stupid and risky, but it was all she had.

"If you don't believe me then go see for yourself, if I'm wrong then...Then you can kill me."

Jivana blinked in surprised, taken aback by her offer. It was her faith in Caius over Faith's in the time lines...Which one was likely to win?

"Fine."

She did have absolute belief in Caius, and even if the time lines showed her something she didn't like, she could kill the girl anyway. It wasn't like she had the strength to fight back or anything. Sighing from relief, Faith slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position and leaned against a nearby wall. Once again, she pointed towards the throne.

Jivana slowly walked towards it, occasionally glancing back at Faith to make sure it wasn't a trick where she was planning on shooting an arrow at her back while she was distracted.

"Hold your arm out and close your eyes," Faith told her, "then you'll see the future of what's to come of that world."

She sighed, and did what she was told.

_I don't have doubt, I trust in him..._

But what Jivana saw shocked her. 700AF, two hundred years after the crystal pillar had crumbled. The land's soil was completely barren, the sky dark and cloudy. Humanity was near its end, but there was hardly any wildlife either. The entire planet was about to die...

She gasped as she snapped her eyes open and pulled away at once.

"But... I... I don't understand... This is wrong... THIS IS WRONG! THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE MY MASTER WANTS!"

"This is everything he wants! In my world he tried to kill the goddess just to save Yeul, and if he had succeeded then both worlds would have been consumed by chaos!"

"It's a lie!"

"You saw for yourself! I've already told you that the time lines don't lie!"

"No... No... NOOOOOO!"

Jivana's anger was released as she began to throw destructive spells at everything she saw, as if destroying it all would erase the truth. Faith yelped and flinched when one of the spells almost hit her, since she was in no case to try and dodge them, and she was pretty sure that trying to calm her enemy down was just going to end in getting hurt.

"ENOUGH!"

Both of them winced at the voice that echoed loudly, and caused Jivana to stop. Then Etro appeared on her throne, her form enveloped in a bright white light that was impossible to see through. She glared down at Jivana angrily while Faith gasped and knelt down immediately in respect.

"This girl has spoken the truth."

"You're lying!"

Faith was stunned. Jivana was not only showing no respect for the goddess, but accusing her as well? She didn't know what kind of Goddess Etro really was, but she was expecting her to be blown to pieces on the spot, but only Etro could see the tears that burned in her eyes.

"Do you dare to defy me? You and Caius are upsetting the balance of the universe, and it is my job to keep that in check."

"But... I'm not just a shadow of Yeul right? He needs me, he needs me more than Yeul!"

Etro shook her head sadly.

"I'm afraid he has tricked you my child, for as you have been told he only cares about Yeul. I gave him immortality when he laid down his life for her so that he would always be able to protect her, but now he has been driven mad by it. I do not know why he created you, but know that your 'master' must be stopped."

"I can't believe this!"

Jivana fled as she she began to cry, headed back through the rift. Faith watched her go silently, then sighed as she leaned back on the wall again in relief. She was alive, that much she was thankful for, but she  _needed_ to get stronger, that much she knew now.

Etro reached out towards her, and a soft glowing light surrounded her for just a moment. She felt all her pain slowly fade away at once, and just like that her wounds were healed.

"Thank you."

She bowed in respect to the Goddess, but she said nothing back as she faded from her throne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if Faith seems like a hopeless little weakling here. When I coughed her out I tried to base her on young scared Hope...But yeah that won't be happening again.


	10. IX Confusion

Rain wandered about outside the city of New Bodhum. He had talked with Nora for what seemed like hours, for she had finally let him in her room after he explained. He opened up about what happened to Ashling, something he had never done with anyone before. Hope had tried to get him to for a while, telling him that opening up about it would make it better. It didn't, it just reopened the wounds he had been trying to heal for the past few years.

By the time he was done talking and comforting his cousin, he needed to be alone. That was once again his plan, just a quiet walk  _inside_  the village, but as he wandered about on the beach he began to hear the faint sounds of someone sobbing.

Immediately he wanted to check to make sure who ever it was, was ok, so he slowly followed the noise to the far side of the beach, right on the village outskirts. He found it was a girl, crouched down to a little huddle and hiding behind some rocks. She had her back to him, but he knew her long blonde hair was familiar.

"Hey...Are you alright?"

She flinched at his voice, turning to him at once. He reached for his gunblade at once, seeing that it was the girl from before, but she threw an Aero spell at him before he could react. Naturally he was knocked down by the spell, but got right back up and dusted himself off.

"I was just trying to be nice, sheesh! Look if you came to try and kill me again I'm not in the mood right now, I just came from comforting Nora about Claire. Not that you'd care considering it was Caius who killed her."

"DONT SAY THAT NAME AGAIN!"

Rain flinched, half expecting another spell to come flying at him, but none did.

"Claire or Caius?"

"My master's name..."

"Alright," he said with a nod, and folded his arms. "You gonna tell me what happened, then?"

She fell silent, glancing down at the sand beneath her. He sighed, and wondered why he didn't just walk away and let her be. Why was he talking with the enemy? With someone who tried to kill him for Etro's sake!

"Again I'm just trying to be nice here. Enemies or not I can't stand seeing pretty girls cry."

The words came spilling out without warning, but they were true. It was a rare soft spot he had. His comment made her blush, and she wiped away her tears as she began to spill everything that had happened. About Caius sending her to kill Faith, but in the end seeing the truth in the time lines instead. She mainly wanted to know why running back through that rift had taken her elsewhere instead of directly back to Caius. She was glad for it, but was it some kind of glitch, or Etro's doing?

"I don't know why I'm telling you all this!"

She mentally blamed it on her current emotional state.

"Its good to open up. Shutting everything inside isn't healthy." That's what Hope said to him anyway, though now he didn't really believe it. "So you're confused then, am I right?"

Was she finally coming to her senses about Caius? Was there a chance he could try and convince her to change sides now?

"I just don't know what to tell Caius...I promised him I would kill your sister..."

But she hadn't, she had let it slip away. Rain of course stiffened. He had heard his parents theory that she was in Valhalla, and if what he was hearing now was indeed true then they were right...But Caius already knew. It wasn't looking too good right now, and they needed to get her out as soon as possible...

"You spared her for now though, am I right?" he asked. His hand twitched towards his gunblade.

"I'm not supposed to save anyone!"

"Yet you want to see a better future? You saw whats going to become of this world if it doesn't change."

"I...I want to see a field of lillies..."

He raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure where the heck that had come from, but then an idea sparked in his mind. Of course the rest of him told him it was stupid, and to just walk away from this confused enemy, but if it worked then...

"Come with me for a minute and I'll show you something better." He said as he offered her his hand. "I promise I won't hurt you as long as you do the same."

"If this is a trap, I'll kill you without hesitation."

"I'm well aware of that, but trust me on this, okay?"

She sighed, then reached up and took his hand.

"Okay..."

Rain smiled and gently helped her up, then lead her through the village to the abandoned part of the beach where he and Kristof had first shown up.

"My father was able to get a gate between our worlds to manifest." He explained, then jumped through and took her with him before she could protest. "Same exact place, but it's 523 AF here in my world." He said as they landed. "And I believe around here..." He lead her through the city once more and past the outskirts. "Is your field of lillies," he said pointing towards it.

She gasped when she saw it. An entire field of them as far as the eye could see...

"It's beautiful."

She smiled and let go of his hand at once, running towards it. As soon as she had seen it, all her worries and confusion had melted away, for now at least.

"I'm glad you're happy." Rain said with a soft smile as he sat down on the grass and gazed up at the new Cocoon.

She twirled in the middle of the field, giggling a bit as she did so.

"Caius never took me to a field like this..."

"Caius should treat you better." He muttered, folding his arms.

She stopped as she turned back to him, and frowned.

"He created you right? Then he should act like a father."

"Well, yes, he created me but I've never thought of him like a father..."

He saw her gently touch the small star shaped crystal on her collar bone. He caught sight of it for the first time, and saw that it was full of black Chaotic energy...Probably what Caius used to create her. He sighed and turned away, then gently picked a flower from the field.

"Noel said in the future he was from, the soil was barren and nothing would grow. If Caius gets his way then you won't see any more fields like this."

"The world is a beautiful place..." She glanced around. Everything on Pulse was full of nature, wild and free, she didn't want that to go away..."Except for the people who live here..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked glaring at her, and tossing away the flower in anger.

"Most people are bad, they only think about themselves and destroy the natural beauty, even after all that this earth has done for them."

"That may be true but most isn't all. Look there." He pointed to Bhunivelze hanging in the sky above them. "Good people made that happen, my father worked feverishly to make it possible."

"Your father is a good person."

"And Caius killed him in the other world..." He spat angrily, clenching his fists.

"I'm sorry for that..."

He sighed, and put his anger aside, then stood up to face her.

"I...I want to ask you something..."

"Okay..."

"I know we're enemies, and you're confused right now and I have no right to ask this of you but..." He got down on his hands and knees in front her. "Please spare my sister's life. She's a traumatized girl and doesn't deserve to be killed. Lie to Caius or kill me instead, but if you kill her, then I have to come after you and..."

He knew what would happen. He would want to kill her for sure, but did he have it in him? He already had some blood on his hands, but could he bring himself to kill again? He didn't think so, at least not now. He knew if he became a soldier like he wanted he would most likely have to pull the trigger when he didn't want to, but he would deal with that then, not now.

"But...If I lie to him, he'll know I'm lying...He might try and kill me."

"If she's in Valhalla and said she'll remain there if she has to, like you said, then she will. He won't know." He stood up, and gently took her hand. "Please?"

"...Alright"

He sighed a breath of relief, and prayed to the goddess that she would keep her word.

"Thank you." he said before kissing her hand like a gentlemen. "I don't think I ever got your name..."

What he got instead was an unexpected slap across the face.

"Dont kiss me! And my name is Jivana."

"Jivana..." he said as he rubbed his cheek. "I'll remember it."

He would also remember to not do something like that again../

"Do you wanna head back?" He asked.

"I don't know..."

"I told you this before, but there's no Caius in this world...If you decide to change sides, then when all this is over, you can come back here, and you'll be free."

"Free?" She blinked, acting like she had hardly ever heard that word. "What do you mean free?"

"I mean you won't have to listen to Caius anymore, he won't control you, you can do what you want, not what he orders."

She smiled softly at the thought. Free from Caius...Free to live her life however she wanted...

"Maybe you're right, Maybe... I would like be free, but Caius..."

She was more than a little scared. She knew he wouldn't let her go so easily. If she tried, he would most likely come after her and kill her.

"We can protect you. My mom's strong and has fought him countless times before."

"I see..."

"Just think about it alright? You don't have to decide now."

She could only nod silently.

"We really should head back though. I left without saying anything and I'm sure Caius will get suspicious if you've been gone to long."

"Thank you..." Was all she said on the way back, which made the rest of the walk silent.

Once they reached the gate he took her hand and jumped though, then felt his energy drain as soon as they reached the other side. He groaned, and leaned on her for support.

"Its getting worse..." He muttered.

"What?"

She could easily tell that something was wrong. Not only was he leaning on her for support, but already looked a little pale, and in pain too. Probably thought he was sick...

"I'm not supposed to exist in this world...So I'm basically slowly dying..."

Her eyes widened, gulping nervously.

"Why?" She whispered.

"I'm a walking paradox. Its all Caius' fault." He clenched his fist, slowly trying to stand up on his own. "He killed this world's Hope..."

"Rain!"

Lightning was approaching them, probably looking for him since he had run off without warning again. Of course once she saw Jivana, she paused and instantly reached for her gunblade.

"Mom it's ok, she hasn't hurt me."

He stepped in front of Jivana, but she stepped away.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to go."

And with that she ran off without another word. Lightning watched her go, her hand still on the hilt of her gunblade, but once she was out of sight she relaxed and turned to Rain with folded arms.

"What the hell was going on here? What were you doing with that girl? Don't you know she's the enemy?"

All her questions were giving him a growing headache.

"I was just talking with her alright? She's confused...I was trying to get her to consider changing sides."

She seemed to buy it, then motioned to follow her home. He expected more questions, but none came. He was tempted to tell her about Faith, but at the same time he knew it would make her worry even more.

_Please just spare her, Jivana..._

* * *

By the time they got home, Rain's head was spinning, and he went straight to his room. He sighed as he laid down on his bed, thinking about his conversation with Jivana. He really did hit a soft spot when he had found her crying, and she really did seem to listen to him about Caius truly being evil...Was there a chance she would do what he asked? If nothing else, he wanted her to spare Faith, then in the meantime they could figure out how to get her out of Valhalla so she wouldn't be in danger any longer. If she did that, then maybe she really would consider changing sides...

"I'm so confused..." He muttered. He groaned in frustration, and buried his head under the pillow.

But for now they were still enemies. She had already tried to kill him once, and had almost gotten away with it, too. He wouldn't forget that, yet he  _still_  liked her. She was beautiful, that much was a given, but what surprised him was the fact that he had actually gone and flirted a little bit. He never did that! Maybe his teenage hormones had finally caught up with him? He never found the girls in high school that interesting...

He sighed again, mentally banging his head on a wall. If she stayed on Caius' side, then she would no doubt come after him again, and he would have to put his stupid crush aside and fight her once more.

"Did something happen?"

He poked his head out from under the pillow and saw Rainbow standing in the doorway looking rather worried.

"...Can I talk to you about something?" he asked as he yanked the pillow off himself as he sat up.

"Yeah." she said. She entered the room and took a seat. "What's wrong?"

"Well...I think...I have a crush on the enemy..." he admitted, blushing a bit.

"...Excuse me?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

He couldn't be serious, he liked Caius?! The man who not only tried to kill him, but killed their cousin and was out to destroy the future and end humanity. Wasn't he also like a thousand years old?

"You heard me. I have a crush on the enemy, don't tell mom..."

She just stared at him.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I don't know!" he said, and buried his head under the pillow again. "How the heck am I supposed to act on this?! I mean we're enemies for Etro's sake!" \

"But...This isn't right!"

If he was gay then fine, that part didn't bother her, but falling for Caius of all people? She couldn't get that mental image out of her head...

"Hey I'm sure it could be worse here..."

"...I don't have any words for you...I never figured you'd be on that side..."

" 'That side'? What do you think I'm gonna betray you guys and go to Caius?"

"Are you?"

"NO! If anything I want to bring her to our side...She seemed so confused earlier, I think she's realizing that Caius' doings are all wrong."

"Ah that's it then..."

"Huh?"

Now it was his turn to stare confused at her, having no idea that she had misunderstood who he had been talking about the whole time.

"Nothing! Nothing!"

But she was smiling and chuckling now, he knew it couldn't be "Nothing".

"Wait...DID YOU THINK I WAS TALKING ABOUT CAIUS THE WHOLE TIME?"

"Nooo, of course not!"

She was barely holding back a fit of laughter now, and he knew she was lying.

"You did...You totally did..." He shivered at the thought. "I really didn't need that mental image...And for the record I only like girls thank you very much..."

"I wasn't thinking that!"

"Well I don't buy it, but whatever." he said as he shrugged. "But seriously, don't tell mom about this, ok? I promise I won't do anything stupid. It's just a crush, not like I'm gonna sacrifice myself for her."

"Alright...I won't tell her that you're gay." she said before she finally burst into a fit of laughter.

"Shut up!" he said and threw the pillow at her.

"I'm just kidding!" she said as she dodged the pillow then left the room, while still laughing to herself.

Rain groaned, and wondered if Faith was watching from Valhalla right now...If she was, she was probably laughing a bit, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it should be pretty obvious that RainxJivana is the OCxOC in this, but just to make it clear they're not gonna be killing each other one chapter and making out the next. NO XD And the scene at the end? I just couldn't help to poke fun at the slash fandom...


	11. X Choices

"Well you certainly took your time." Caius said when Jivana returned. "I trust you took care of her?"

"Yes, master. She won't ever ruin your plans."

He nodded in approval, but something was off...Why had she taken so long? And how come the rift he created didn't take her directly back to him? He had seen her walking from the village...

"I didn't expect her to be such a handful...You took so long yet there's not a scratch on you." He narrowed his eyes at her, but she showed no signs of nervousness or fear. "What proof do you have that you have completed your task?"

"This."

She pointed to the bit of blood splattered on one side of her corset. It was actually from a monster she had to cut down while walking back to him, but he didn't have to know that. She could easily play it off as Faith's blood.

"Good," he said. "Did she say anything to you?"

"'You won't get away with this'. Those were her last words."

"Humph, typical." He said with a smirk. "Rain will be the next one for us to kill, but it must be when he's alone. When his mother intervened I sensed that Etro had once given her a great deal of power, and most of it remains...I want to avoid clashing swords with her for now, and I want to be sure that he doesn't fill your head with any more nonsense."

"What about the girl with the spiky hair?"

"If she gets in the way then she must go too, but for now killing her may alter the timeline. I risked that when killing Claire and I don't want any more risks."

"Yes, master, as you wish."

"Did you hesitate to kill her?" he asked her still not entirely convinced that she did indeed kill Faith.

"Master, what do you take me for? I live for you."

"And now you're avoiding the question." He folded his arms and glared at her. "I'm also surprised that Etro didn't intervene, surely she brought that girl to Valhalla for safety."

"You sent me to kill her and I did, what else you want from me?"

"I don't believe you. I can see it in your eyes that you're lying to me."

She tried not to panic, but she knew he was onto her now...Her heart was racing, she had to do something!

"You want to see me kill someone? Come with me and I'll kill Rain before your eyes and your doubts will be cleared."

The words came spilling out before she could stop them. Rain… He had been so kind to her, and now there was no way she could get around killing him. She remembered what he had said before, about killing him instead of Faith...It looked like now that was going to be the case, but it didn't seem right.

"Good." He said with a smile. "But remember, I created you and I can kill you in an instant."

To demonstrate he lifted his hand and clenched his fist, and used the power of Chaos to cause her pain. She fell to her knees and let out an agonizing scream at once.

"If you dare to betray me, I will end your life. Is that clear?"

"No...Please." She struggled to breath.

"You have been warned."

He released her of the pain, but she still sat there gasping for breath. Every one of her nerves had burned...She never wanted to experience that again.

"Come then. I will watch you kill the boy, and won't intervene unless I have to."

She gulped nervously, but slowly stood up and followed Caius without a word.

* * *

That night Rain couldn't sleep. He still felt completely drained, but his mind wouldn't let him rest. He was worried about Faith, wondering if Jivana would keep her promise about sparing her. Every time he had started to drift off, he would wake up from a nightmare of Jivana mercilessly murdering her...

If that happened, he would break. He knew it, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. After Ashling had died, he had fallen into a deep depression that he had barely pulled himself out of...If Faith were to die too, that would return, only much worse.

He sighed, then slowly pulled himself out of bed. He needed some air, but he would stay inside the village. That's what he told himself as he slid on his shoes and grabbed his gunblade just in case, but once he stepped outside he caught sight of Jivana on the other side of the closed village gate.

"I want to talk, but not here."

She began walking away without a word, but it was more than clear that she wanted him to follow her. He hesitated, reminding himself that they were still enemies and that it could be a trap, but earlier she had trusted him just fine...Now it was his turn to do the same.

He climbed the fence with ease, then hopped over and down before he slowly followed her. Once the village was out of sight, she finally turned to him, knives drawn. He stiffened and muttered a curse as he turned to leave, but saw that Caius was now blocking his escape route.

"I see you've made your decision..." He spat as he glared back at Jivana and drew his gunblade.

"Take care of him, Jivana."

"Yes, master."

She charged him at once, while he took a defensive stance. He tried to hide the fact that his energy was drastically drained, and hoped this fight wouldn't take to long. He didn't have the strength and energy for this right now...

"I offered you freedom! Is this really what you want?" He yelled as their blades clashed.

"I don't know what are you talking about, I don't talk with the enemy."

"Fine then, live as a slave for all I care!"

He cast thunder and sent it her way, regretting it the moment he did. Not only did she dodge it with ease, but he could feel himself weaken. There would be no more spells from him this battle, that much was sure.

But she didn't waste any time casting hers, staying at a distance and using them rapidly so he could only block and dodge and not get any closer to her. It continued to wear him down, but he didn't waver. His anger was keeping him going.

"Enough." Caius slammed his sword into the ground sending a beam of chaos at Rain from behind knocking him forward and bruising him severely while his sword flew out of reach. "I've grown tired of this." he said as he placed his foot on Rain's back so he couldn't get back up. "Kill him, Jivana."

She sighed, and looked Rain in the eyes as she slowly stepped forward.

"Yes, master, as you wish."

"My offer still stands..." Rain muttered, giving her one last chance. "But if you're going to kill me, know that my parents will avenge me..."

"Your parents are no threat, right, master? Do you remember that guy?"

"Yes I killed Hope."

"In this world yes but he's alive in mine and he WILL stop you!"

Caius kicked him in the face to get him to shut up.

"Kill him." Caius ordered again.

"Yes master..."

"You don't have to do this..." Rain said softly as he looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"It's you or me. If I don't kill you my master will destroy me…"

"And I suggest you hurry up and end it," Caius said. His patience was thinning. "Kill. Him. Now." He had picked up Rains gunblade and shoved it in her hands.

* * *

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow flinched as she heard her name being called. She was dreaming, or at least she was pretty sure. She was walking along the beach with her parents on a bright sunny day, happily talking with them, when suddenly an unknown voice calling her name had echoed. She was the only one to notice, and turned around to face a stranger.

She looked no older then fourteen, wore army green cargo pants and a short dark red fraying poncho over a black tank top. But what intrigued her most was the girl's pink hair. It was the exact shade as hers, and she had it cut in layers so the back was short and fluffy, but the rest of it was in two low wavy pigtails that hung over her shoulders. It made her look a lot like Rain, they had the same green eyes too.

"Who are you?"

"There's no time for that! Look, you have to wake up, Rain's in trouble outside the village!"

Her eyes widened, but before she could ask any more questions the girl stepped forward and slapped her across the face.

She snapped awake at once, more than a little confused about her dream, but decided to take it seriously, Throwing off the covers, she quickly got dressed and grabbed her sword before heading out. Cloud was away on some deliveries, and Lightning had been called to help the Guardian Corps take care of a monster problem in another village. She was on her own right now.

Following as the girl had said, she climbed over the gate, and after some searching came upon the scene of Rain on the ground, and Caius handing his gunblade over to Jivana. She stiffened, then drew her sword and charged at Caius at once. That girl had been right...

"Don't touch my brother!"

Caius spun around and effortlessly blocked her attack with his sword.

"Last chance Jivana, end his life."

"Side with us and we'll protect you, I promise." Rain said softly.

Jivana locked eyes with him...She just couldn't bring herself to kill him, even with her life on the line. She sighed, then dropped the gunblade and stepped away.

"Sorry, I can't..."

Caius growled in frustration. Rainbow cast Piro at him, but he dodged, then kicked her away with his sword. He watched her get knocked down before he turned back to Jivana with anger burning in his eyes.

"Then you are no longer of use to me you traitor."

He lifted his hand, and with a swift motion broke the crystal full of the chaotic energy that gave Jivana life. Rain watched as she collapsed at once in front of him. He pulled himself up and called her name as he caught her.

Her skin was already pale and cold. Her eyes were still open, but lifeless, while the rest of her was completely still. There was no denying that she was dead.

"Caius, you monster!"

"You'll be joining her soon enough."

Caius slowly walked towards Rain, and once again knocked Rainbow out of the way as she tried to stop him. Rain picked his gunblade off the ground while he continued to hold Jivana in his other arm. He knew he was too weak to stand a chance, even if he wasn't battered, bruised, and drained he wasn't strong enough. How many times had he just barely gotten away? Surely his luck was going to run out this time...

_Help me Etro..._

His prayer was answered. Etro sent a portal to Valhalla right behind him, and he was pulled inside with a gasp, along with Jivana.

Damn you Goddess..." Caius muttered as the portal closed before he could act.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rainbow getting up again with her sword, but he put his away.

"I have no business with you now, but if you dare get in my way, then you will end up like your beloved cousin Claire."

"I don't fear you." She spat. "And what the hell did you do to Jivana?"

"She betrayed me, so I killed her. Rain and Kristof will soon share her fate."

* * *

Rain gasped as he stumbled through the portal, clutching Jivana tightly. He came through the other side with a  _thud,_ and at once noticed his shocked sister standing in front of him.

"Rain?"

"Faith!"

Gently setting Jivana down for a moment, he hugged her at once, washed with relief.

"You're safe..."

She had kept her promise after all...

"Yeah..."

Her eyes were on Jivana's lifeless form behind them...Sighing, he just nodded, knowing she was likely going to ask if she was dead. Faith said nothing, just bit her lip and fought back a few tears. Enemies or not, she had still spared her...

Rain sighed, then gently closed Jivana's eyelids with his fingers. She deserved to be put to rest somewhere...

_He killed you because you spared me...I'm sorry._

Guilt was settling in as he gently picked her up again, but as he looked back towards Etro's throne an idea sparked in his mind. He stood there silently for a moment, looking back at it, then down at Jivana's corpse in his arms, and then slowly walked over to Etro's throne.

"Rain?"

He said nothing to Faith. She just watched him as he knelt respectfully, and bowed his head.

"Goddess Etro, if you're there I ask of you...Is there any way for you to save her? To give her another chance at life?"

She deserved another chance to live, to be free. At first, there was no response, but then after a moment of silence Etro materialized in her throne, once again enveloped in light.

"Are you willing to give up your life for hers?"

His heart skipped a beat and he stiffened. There was no way he would go that far, but the Goddess continued before he could answer.

"Give your life force to her, and under my power you shall receive another."

That sounded better, but it was still asking a lot. He had to be sure of the circumstances before he considered it.

"And she'll live?"

"Yes. She will be free, she will have a soul."

"...And I'll still be alive as well?"

She nodded. He gulped, then glanced back down to Jivana. This wasn't about his stupid crush, that much he knew for sure. No, he felt that he owed her. She had not only kept her promise about sparing Faith, but had died because she had spared him as well. He had seen in her eyes that she hadn't wanted to kill him, that she really did want to be free of Caius...

She had been killed because of him. He knew that thought would remain with him, haunt him, if he didn't do this. He didn't want any more guilt weighing him down, Ashling's death had given him enough. If he walked away, he would most likely regret it. He sighed, calming himself, then glanced up at the goddess.

"Alright."

"Rain, no, you cant do this!"

"Quiet Faith!" He snapped glaring back at her, which made her flinch.

"Go ahead then..." He said softly, eyes back at Etro.

"Are you sure with your decision?"

"Yes..."

He closed his eyes, and gently held one of Jivana's cold, lifeless hands. He gasped in pain as he felt all his energy flow into her. Everything hurt, he couldn't breathe, he could  _feel_ his heart stop. But it was all over in an instant, then he felt fine. He gasped for breath, feeling his heart start up again and his strength return. Something was different...He couldn't quite place it at the moment, so mentally shrugged it off to worry about later.

Glancing down, he saw that the color was returning to Jivana's face, and that she was slowly breathing again. Relief flooded him, and he let go of her hand.

"Thank you Goddess..."

"Be warned child, for you are still mortal. You will still age and die like everyone else, as can you also die from injury or illness."

He nodded, but he didn't expect anything to be different. Though he knew know that he was technically supposed to be dead, he really was a walking paradox no matter what world he was in. Still, that seemed a small price to pay for someone's life.

He thanked her again, bowing as he stood up with Jivana in his arms. Behind them, a rift appeared, allowing them to leave, and then she faded from her throne. He adjusted his grip on Jivana, then made his way towards it. Faith glared at him the whole time.

"I can't believe you did that! If Caius kills the Goddess, then you'll die, too!"

"Well that just gives us one more reason to stop him then, and I don't want you breathing a word about this to anyone, especially mom."

They were interrupted when Jivana groaned, and slowly opened her eyes.

"You're alright." Rain said, smiling at her.

"Where am I?"

"Valhalla. The Goddess brought us here and saved you."

"What?"

Her eyes widened, shifting a bit as she started to recall what happened in her last moments...

"Yeah." He glanced at Faith, glaring at her to warn to her to keep her mouth shut about what exactly had happened. He would tell her the full truth later.

"Can you walk?" He asked, turning back to Jivana.

She nodded, so he set her down so she could stand up.

"Thank you for sparing me..." Was all that Faith said as she held Mog in her arms.

"But why am I alive? I'm supposed to be dead..."

Why would the Goddess bring her back?

"Caius killed you because you spared me. You deserve another chance at life...You're free now."

"Really?"

"Yes, he has no control over you now."

Free...It was just like Rain had said. No more carrying out orders from Caius, living how she wanted. She reached for her crystal, but it was gone. No more worrying about Caius having to kill her in an instant.

"Thank you..." She whispered

"You're welcome." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you coming back with us?"

"I think so..."

"Well you're on our side now...Right?" Faith asked nervously, taking a slow step back.

"I'm never going back to Caius."

That much she was sure of.

Faith sighed a breath of relief, while Rain nodded and offered his hand as they were about to walk through the rift.

"Time to go then."

* * *

Lightning stood behind Hope anxiously as he worked his academy magic on his laptop. When Rainbow got home, she found that her parents had both just gotten home, and she quickly told them what happened. Immediately Lightning had gone and fetched Hope, repeating the story that Rainbow told her.

They were all sure Etro had taken Rain to Valhalla, and now Hope was working furiously for any possible way to get them out. However they wouldn't have to. Without warning the paradox reading program automatically started up, detecting high levels in the area. Hope flinched when it unexpectedly popped up on his screen, but remembered that he had recently set it to auto instead of manual.

"That's right by the crystal pillar." He muttered worriedly glancing at the new data.

Lightning's heart skipped a beat.

"Don't tell me it's crumbling early."

Both of them raced outside to check, with Cloud and Rainbow right behind them. It appeared to still be standing just fine, but they all agreed this was something they needed to investigate. Hope took a moment to grab his laptop, then followed them outside the village.

They made their way to the crystal pillar in silence, alert for anything, but the last thing they expected was to see Rain, Faith, and Jivana walking away from it unharmed. Rainbow paled and stiffened when she caught sight of Jivana, knowing full well she had been dead only a short while ago. What was going on?

Lightning and Hope, of course, were also a bit surprised, but mainly relieved. Once Faith caught sight of her parents, she ran to them, both of them welcoming her with open arms.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Hope said, almost in tears.

"Mom, Dad…"

Lightning too, was on the verge of crying after seeing her youngest daughter all grown up after eight years, but more importantly, safe and sound. She then, of course, saw Jivana with Rain and narrowed her eyes as she gently pulled away and reached for her gunblade.

"Mom wait-" Rain said, half stepping in front of Jivana.

"What's she doing here, Rain?" Lightning demanded, with her hand still on the hilt of her gunblade.

"How is she still alive?!" Rainbow asked, still in shock.

"Etro brought her back! She's on our side now, I swear!"

Lightning didn't relax one bit, and continued to glare at her.

"It's true, Mom, she spared both of our lives," Faith said.

Rain nodded, agreeing with Faith's words.

"I'm dead to Caius, one way or another. I'm not going back to him." Jivana added.

Lightning slowly moved her hand away from her weapon, but the air was still tense. Cloud too, was glaring at her. Lightning didn't trust her a bit, but at the same time she knew they couldn't be lying about Etro bringing her back, and why would the Goddess do that if she was on the wrong side?

"Fine..." She muttered. Rain sighed from relief. "But I'll be keeping a VERY close eye on you. The moment I sense betrayal from you, you're dead, got that?"

"Understood."

"I'm also going to have to ask you to hand over any weapons you have on you."

Jivana sighed, but handed her knives over without a word, and felt silence also being cast on her as another precaution. She knew it was only natural though, no enemies became trusty allies with everyone overnight.

Naturally, the walk back was dead quiet, Lightning still frequently glared towards Jivana to make sure she wasn't planning on striking one of them when she wasn't looking.

"You alright with her and Faith in your room, Rainbow?" She asked when they were back inside.

She nodded, then led the two of them to her room for the night, while Rain sighed and muttered a goodnight and headed to the guest room. He shut and locked the door, then flipped on the light, glad that Noel had taken Kristof back to the other world for a while.

He pulled his shirt over his head, then walked in front of the mirror. Sure enough, Etro's symbol was in a crystallized mark on his chest, right over his heart. He had felt that something was different, and now he knew what. He sighed as he gently ran his finger over it, feeling the soft warmth it gave off as well as a bit of a glow.

"Well..." he muttered to himself. "Guess this means no more sleeping only in boxers."

Faith knew, and he  _would_  tell Jivana at some point, but he was going to keep this a secret from everyone else for as long as possible.

* * *

"Alright." Lightning said as she paced around the living room with her arms folded. "Faith's safe now, one less thing to worry about, but we still need to figure out how to stop Caius and save Cocoon."

"I've got all my notes ready to give the Academy here." Hope said confidently. "Were you able to find out anything on my father?"

She nodded.

"He's still alive, and the Director as you guessed."

"Then I can go to Academia tomorrow night and see him."

"I'm going with you." She said quickly. Her pacing stopped.

She wasn't letting him go anywhere alone, not with him still recovering from injuries and Caius out on the loose.

"Well then it'll be nice to have my bodyguard back, even if it's for a little while."

He smiled at her, but Cloud was silent beside him, clenching his fist. He was losing her...

"I should come too, just in case."

There were no objections.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this last scene, just feels blech because I was in a "I just wanna be done with this part" mood. Beta made no comments on it so...Meh? And yes Rain is now officially connected to Etro, and holy crap that right there had become glued to his character development for everything _ For those of you that I rp with here and there that are reading this, you know what I mean XD


	12. Paradox Ending: Life of Regret

Rain sighed as he walked along the streets of New Bodhum. It was now 528 AF, back in his own peaceful world. His shift in the Guardian Corps was over for the day, but he was still in uniform and didn't have any intention of going back home to his apartment and changing- in fact he probably wouldn't be going home for a while.

His first stop was at the a local florist shop, where he proceeded to pick out and purchase a few different flowers. One of the workers smiled at him and asked if they were for a special lady. He blushed a bit, and told her yes, but clearly she was either new or didn't know the meanings behind the flowers he had chosen.

Agrimony for thankfulness, deep pink China to show that his heart was aching, lilac to show his first signs of love, marigold for his affection, pain and grief, pansies to show that he was still thinking about her, and finally Rue for his regret. All of these were for Jivana's grave.

He was silent as he exited the shop with the flowers gently in hand. He then exited the city limits and walked to the field that he had taken her too those few years ago. There was no tomb stone or obvious marker for her grave, but he knew the spot. It was in the center, the lone patch of dirt where nothing seemed to grow was where he had buried her.

_"Goddess Etro, if you're there I ask of you...Is there any way for you to save her? To give her another chance of life?"_

_She deserved another chance to live, to be free. At first, there was no response, but then after a moment of silence Etro materialized in her throne, once again enveloped in light._

_"Are you willing to give up your life for hers?"_

_His heart skipped a beat and he stiffened. There was no way he would go that far, but the Goddess continued before he could answer._

_"Give your life force to her, and under my power you shall receive another."_

_That sounded better, but it was still asking a lot. He had to be sure of the circumstances before he considered it._

_"And she'll live?"_

_"Yes. She will be free, she will have a soul."_

_"...And I'll still be alive as well?"_

_She nodded. He gulped, then glanced back down to Jivana. This wasn't about his stupid crush, that much he was sure of. No, he felt that he owed her. Not only had she kept her promise and spared Faith, but Caius had killed her because she had chosen to spare him. He had seen it in her eyes that she really did want to be free from Caius, but his conscience nagged at him that this was all a bad idea._

_There was no proof that she would completely change sides like he thought. What if she attacked them again right after she was restored to life? Then his sacrifice would just come back to bite him in the ass. That, and he also knew that if Etro ever grew weak enough to die, then so would he, likely without warning._

_Was he willing to risk all that just to be rid of his guilt? He silently shook his head, and glanced back up at the goddess with apologetic eyes._

_"Thank you for your kind offer Goddess, but I will pass on it. Please just ensure that her soul rests peacefully instead..."_

_He hoped this wouldn't anger her, but she simply just nodded and faded from his sight._

He sighed as he tore his mind out of the past, and gently placed the flowers on the ground as he knelt beside it. He came here every year on the anniversary of her death, and had even moved to New Bodhum when he joined the Guardian Corps in hopes of being near her.

His life had been rather uneventful since that whole mess five years ago. After he and Faith had left Valhalla that night, he went back to their own world and buried her without another word,  _then_  had gone to his parents and explained what had happened.

Turns out that his guilt had actually effected him and his decision making more than he thought. He had gotten up extra early the next morning, grabbed his things and left a note saying he was going back to his home world for good.

He purposely had no contact with his family for a few months, just left and became a soldier not caring what they felt about it anymore. Faith had tracked him down about a half a year later, and convinced him that everything had turned out fine and that he should mend the relationships he had suddenly broken off from. He did as he was asked, and had been making frequent trips back to Bhunivelze to visit since then.

But there was one thing that always bothered him, no matter who it was asking him. "Are you ever going to get a girlfriend and settle down?" as it was more or less phrased over and over again. They didn't understand how he felt. Yes he had a date or two from time to time, but most of the time he didn't feel any connection or spark and politely ended it with them- or if there was one he  _still_ ended it with them due to his own fear. Fear that he could grow to close to them and then loose them just like Ashling and Jivana.

There were rumors that he had commitment issues, which he supposed were technically true but not for the reasons people thought. He ignored them, as well as the questions and rumors that he was in the closet, that one was  _definitely_  false.

"I should've saved you..."

He knew it was the whole reason behind his new fear that had developed, guilt and regret had really settled in since then, and showed no signs of fading any time soon. He was happy that he was being a good little soldier, able to protect people now, but he would forever live and die alone because of the choice he had made in Valhalla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bring on the angsty paradox ending...There will be another between 14 and 15 as well.
> 
> So yeah. Mainly this is what happens when I'm dumped out of no where (It happened months ago so don't worry about it) , but also shows what Rain would've done otherwise. So if you're planning to bash me for my little OCxOC hate pairing, remember this first XD


	13. XI Saving the World One Step at a Time

Bartholomew Estheim sighed as he came home that night from yet another seemingly endless day of work. He glanced at the clock as he began to undo his tie, and saw that it was past ten. Once again, it was later than he had expected. However, it was common for him to be home late, even his family had gotten used to it when they were alive. However he hated it, for it was his work that always kept him from spending time with his family. Nora had been understanding about it, but Hope had not. Now they were both dead, he hadn't had time to make up the time he could have spent with them.

He had just taken off his academy jacket and was in the middle of undoing his tie when there was a knock at the door. He raised an eyebrow, wondering who it could be at this hour, but he still decided to answer it. It was likely important, perhaps someone from the Academy? He glanced at his phone as he walked to the door, checking if he had missed any calls or messages, but none were there. He took a moment to unlock it, then slowly opened it to see Lightning calmly standing there. He blinked in surprise of course, he hadn't heard from her in years.

"Well this is a surprise..."

"May I come in? I'd like to talk to you."

He nodded, then stepped aside to let her in. She nodded in thanks, then wiped her shoes on the welcome mat before stepping inside. She took a seat on the couch, while he closed the door and asked if she would like anything to drink, but she politely declined.

"I have information that the Academy needs." She began by getting right to the point.

He took a seat across from her, a bit alarmed now, but ready to listen calmly.

"I want you to promise that you'll hear me out before you judge."

He frowned, catching that this didn't seem like very good news at all, but nodded as he promised.

"Good..." She said, crossing her legs as she sighed and tapped her fingers against her folded arms, probably trying to figure out how to start. "What if I told you..." She lifted her head up from the ground, and looked him right in the eye, "that I came from a parallel world."

His eyes widened. He now understood why she had asked him to hear her out entirely first, it sounded pretty crazy.

"Are you saying you're  _not_  the Lightning I know?"

"Yes and no," She said, while shifting her position. "All the events up until Cocoon fell are exactly the same in both worlds."

"Then what happened after that in your world?"

He was still trying to wrap his head around this concept, but Lightning wasn't one to go spouting out crazy nonsense.

"The time line was warped..."

He then listened as she told him about how she was pulled into the Goddess' realm, Valhalla, and written out of history because of it. She told him about Caius Ballad, and his overall motive to destroy the world, just for the sake of one person. The fall of the crystal pillar in 500 AF was inevitable, and that's when he paled.

"I've been in this world for the past twenty years with my memory altered. I believe that this world's Lightning is in that crystal pillar along with Vanille and Fang,"

"What proof do you have of all this?" He finally asked, making her sigh and lower her head.

Clearly she was expecting that question, but when she glanced back up again she was smiling softly.

"Your son, he's alive and well in my world."

His eyes widened as her words echoed through his mind for a moment, then she turned back to the door.

"You can come in now!"

His heart skipped a beat as the door slowly opened, and his son entered the room with a smile.

"Hello, Dad."

His mouth dropped open at once, staring at his middle aged son in shock. The last time he had seen him was when he was seventeen, barely a man. Yet now here he was, in his late forties, right in front of him, come back from the grave. As he slowly stood up and walked towards Hope, he had to remind himself of what Lightning had told him, that this was the other world's Hope in front of him, not his own. His own was still dead, and even if he was still alive today, he would only be thirty four.

Still, even so it was  _his_  son in front of him, the one he had dearly missed all those years. He embraced him at once, tears silently falling from his eyes. Hope hugged him back, and he guessed that they had both expected his reaction. They stood there like that for a few moments, then he let go and stepped back to take a good look at his son.

"You've grown up so much..."

He was still having a hard time believing his own eyes, but he had  _felt_  real. If this was some kind of dream he was having, it was one he didn't want to wake up from.

Business was put aside for a while as they sat down. He listened about this Hope's life, more than glad to hear that he had been Director for quite some time, and was doing a good job at it. He was even happier when he heard that Hope and Lightning were married with a couple of kids of their own. To think he had grand kids! Naturally pictures were shown, and Hope promised he would get to see them before they left this world.

The casual conversation finally ended, then it was back to being serious as Hope handed off his research for the new Cocoon in a thick manila folder.

"Everything you need is in here, both in digital format and on paper."

He nodded, accepting the research as well as the heavy task ahead.

"And you say the crystal pillar will crumble in 500AF?"

They both nodded.

"Unfortunately it's inevitable..." Lightning muttered. "If you and the Academy just focus on building the new Cocoon and making it rise on time, we'll take care of the rest to secure the future of this world."

"I'll make sure of it."

The couple sighed from relief, then stood up to leave since it was so late. Hope and Bartholomew hugged one more time, once again promising to stop by and see each other before he went back home.

After they said goodbye and were politely shown out, they joined Cloud who had been patiently waiting in the hallway the whole time. He hadn't seen the point of having to come inside with them. No one knew what he was thinking as he leaned against the wall silently, and he only nodded when it was time to go. However, the three of them knew one thing. Yes they were now one step closer to ending this whole mess, but that also meant that they were closer to Lightning's decision time... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bartholomew why are you such a pain to write? -_- This chapter took me foreeeeeeeeever...And it's so fucking short too, blech.
> 
> Good news: As of the 5th, it's offically been a whole year since this lovely piece has been in work.
> 
> Bad: Beta's had life slap her in the face so next couple chapters might come slower than others...


	14. XII Ashling

It was that same night when the girl appeared in Rainbow's dreams once more. This time however it was a bit different, she was dreaming about a romantic date on the beach with her dream boyfriend. The dream couple was laughing and smiling when she had shown up behind them.

"You've gotta be kidding me." She said as she facepalmed.

"What?" Rainbow turned around bright red, and saw her standing there calmly while sighing and shaking her head.

"...Should I leave?" She asked, not wanting to stick around if it was suddenly going to get all mature.

"Who are you?" She got to her feet, noticing her "boyfriend" disappear from the dream. "Or are just a part of my dreams?"

"Remember me from before? I woke you up when Rain was fighting Jivana. Thanks for helping."

She nodded. "Yes, I remember you..." She tilted her head as she looked at her once more, once again seeing that she looked so much like Rain... "What's your name?"

"Ashling...Ashling Estheim."

"You're Rain's sister right?"

It made sense now there, but what was she doing in her dreams?

"I was..." Ashling said softly.

"Was...?"

"Honestly you can't figure it out?" she asked as she folded her arms. "I'm dead, just a wandering spirit."

She flinched, not having heard a word of Rain and Faith's sister being dead, but yet here she was telling her that...

"What? But... How? If I can know..."

"It's not my place to say. No one else even knows I'm here right now...And as far as mom knows I'm still alive. I want to keep it that way until someone tells her, alright? Not a word about me."

"Okay, I understand, but..." She just had to ask..."You and Rain look so much alike...Are you twins?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry..."

To die and leave the other twin behind...It was just like Nora and Claire. She may have grown up an only child, but it still sounded awful.

"He's the one who's sorry...Blaming himself for my death, it's part of the reason I haven't moved on. And  _you_  are the other part."

She flinched at the accusing finger that was now pointed at her. Her gaze was cold for a moment, but then it softened.

"The other part?"

"Yes." She said folding her arms. "If mom doesn't go back with my dad and siblings to our world...I'll never make it to the other side, my family  _must_ be complete once more before I do, I need to be sure that they'll be alright...But you're my sister, too…So, if she does go back, are you going to be alright? That's why I came to check on you..."

Rainbow sighed, but then looked at her with a smile.

"Yes, don't worry about me. Someday I'm sure I'll find a way to see her again."

"Good."

She smiled back, relieved, but then she flinched and covered the side of her head in pain. Blood had slowly began to flow from underneath her hand.

"Ashling!"

"My time's up...I can't stay here any longer..."

"But-"

"I'll be ok, it's not the first time this has happened." She said with a forced smile trying to assure her that she was going to be alright as she began to fade away.

"Don't go..."

"Don't worry, I'll come visit you in another dream soon..."

"Alright..."

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on Rain...I can't anymore..." Then she was gone as quickly as she came.

* * *

Lightning was alert the whole way back from Academia. She knew their actions had probably affected the timeline immediately, thus resulting in a pissed off Caius. As she rode on the back of Fenrir, her arms gently wrapped around Cloud while Hope rode in the side car. She kept her eyes peeled for Caius, often glancing around in the night sky for him in his Chaos Bahamut form. There was no sign of him…until New Bodhum was finally in sight.

Caius stood a few yards in front of the village gate, eyes burning furiously. Cloud pulled over immediately, and the three of them drew their respective weapons at once.

"You're in no condition to fight him Hope." Lightning whispered harshly as she took a step in front of him protectively.

"I know that, but I can at least offer some support."

She nodded, but had a feeling that Caius was going to go after him the most so she would have to be careful to protect him in this fight.

"Your actions have changed the future..." Caius said as he slowly drew his sword, barely heard a word of what they were saying. "Because of that another Yeul has died!"

Caius charged at them at once, and Cloud took action immediately by drawing the attention on himself instead of Lightning and Hope...

* * *

Hope hurried inside with Lightning in his arms, slowly bleeding from a few scratches. He had to cast cura to slow most of the bleeding, but she still needed to be bandaged.

Everything had been fine for a while, Lightning and Cloud holding off Caius while he had throwing spells on the side, both attack Caius with them, and protection spells on the two of them. But then Caius had found an opening, and gone right for him. Lightning had gotten to him just in time, taking the blow for him, which naturally resulted in her current wound. Cloud told him to get her inside and take care of her, while he finished the fight, so he did.

"You'll be ok, Light."

He gently set her down on the couch, then turned to go get some rubbing alcohol and bandages.

"Hope, I'm fine."

She tried to stand up, but he turned back to her with a worried look. He knew she was stubborn and liked to push herself in situations like this, often writing off minor wounds like nothing, but he didn't like it one bit.

"Light, don't move! At least not until I tend to your wounds."

"What's going on?"

Hope paled as he heard his son's voice, guessing that he had woken up at the noise they had made coming in. He knew Rain's fears, there weren't many, but blood was one of them.

"Rain don't look!" He stepped in front of Light as he turned to him, hoping he could block the view in time, but he saw that it was to late. Rain took a few steps back, pale, and hands trembling.

"Blood..."

He knew what was coming for Rain, and it wasn't pretty.

"Rain calm down!"

He quickly stepped towards him trying to calm his son, but he screamed when he touched him and roughly shoved him away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He backed into the wall immediately, eyes wide with fear, his whole body shaking as he slowly slid along the walls and back to his room.

He then began whispering apologies, then turned and ran into his room at once, locking the door behind him.

"Rain! Damn it..."

"What the hell was that about?" Lightning asked worriedly as she forced herself up.

"I've seen him like this before..." Hope muttered as he gathered the supplies. "He'll stay locked in a room until he calms down."

"Rain..."

She made her way to the door, frustrated that he had locked it from the inside. They could both hear him whispering to himself between soft sobs.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry Ashling..."

"I need to see my son."

She looked ready to break the door knob off at this point.

"Let me bandage you first."

She sighed, but didn't protest further as she sat back down and removed the blood stained parts of her clothes. They were both silent as Hope cleaned and bandaged her wounds, then cast regen for an extra measure. Then without warning, she got up again and moved towards the guest room.

"Light, wait!"

He followed her, noticing that she already had her hand on the doorknob now, but paused when they heard Rain continue to talk to himself.

"I'm sorry..." he repeated. "I didn't mean to kill him!"

She froze at once, eyes widening. Hope bit his lip, knowing full well that Rain was probably huddled in a corner with his knees to his chest, his face buried in his hands.

"I couldn't save Ashling either..."

It was then when Hope stiffened, and he watched Lightning pale. She slowly turned to him, confusion and worry written all over her face. He had been fearing this for five years; having to tell his wife what happened to Ashling. Before she could say anything, he sighed and gently took her hand and led her back to the living room. They sat side by side on the couch, still holding and gently stroking her hand as he tried to find the words. This wasn't at all how he wanted to break the terrible news to her, he had always wanted to try and break it to her lightly if possible, not while she was injured  _and_  Rain was in the middle of a breakdown...

"Hope..." She finally spoke, breaking the silence. "What happened to Ashling? Where is she?"

He winced a bit, then closed his eyes as he gulped nervously.

"Five years ago...They were all kidnapped and held for ransom. When we got to them...Ashling was already dead, as was one of their captors..."

He couldn't bear to look at her as he spoke, he hung his head in shame the whole time. Silence returned for a few moments, but he could feel Lightning's hand tense up and begin to tremble.

"Ashling..."

He closed his eyes, his heart filling with dread, but he snapped out of it whens she pulled away and leapt up without warning.

"Ashling!"

She reached out as if she was there, she could see her. It wasn't hard to guess that she was hallucinating, her mind breaking down as tears began to fall.

"Light, please calm down!"

He stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. That seemed to snap her out of it, but then she slumped down in tears.

"My baby!"

"I know..." he whispered, sitting down with her and gently pulling her into a hug.

Seeing her break down like this was just as bad as losing their dear Ash to begin with, and she didn't know about Serah yet either...

"My baby..."

"I'm sorry Noel and I couldn't rescue them sooner...Even a minute sooner and she would still be alive..." He rested Lightning's head on his shoulder, and gently began stroking her hair.

"I'll never be able to forgive myself..."

"It's not your fault, Light, please don't blame yourself. Rain already has the guilt of it on his shoulders."

"I'm a terrible mother!"

"No you're not! Don't say that!"

"Ashling..."

"I'm sure she's in a peaceful place..."

She shook her head as he continued to try and comfort her.

"I don't know why, but I don't think that she is…It doesn't feel right..."

"We have to have some faith that she is..."

"Faith..."

"She's safe with us now." He reminded her. "Caius can't hurt our children as long as we're here to protect them."

"I need to get my mind clear...I think... I need to rest...'

Her message was clear: 'Just leave me alone right now'. He frowned at this, but nodded and took a step back as she stood up and silently headed towards her bedroom, and softly closed the door behind her.

* * *

Rain sat in the dark corner of the guest room, curled up with his knees to his chest as he softly sobbed, his mind stuck in the past...

_The three of them stood side by side, Faith nervously clinging to him and trembling slightly from fear. He stood strong though, gently stroking her hair to try and calm her a bit, while Ashling stood on the other side of him holding his free hand._

_None of them were sure how many days it had been since they were first kidnapped, but they all had a feeling it was coming to an end now. Both of their captors were tall, burly, muscular, middle aged men, and hadn't spoken much. At the moment one of them was no where to be seen in the small shady apartment that they had been held in for the past few days. The other one however, sat in front of them at the kitchen table, cleaning his two black 9mm handguns._

_This was the one who hadn't spoken a word to them the whole time, just glared at the three of them. The other one had assured the three of them that they wouldn't be harmed as long as they behaved, they just wanted the ransom money they were requesting from their father and they would be set free after. But this one had other plans, and he stated them as he slowly began putting his weapons back together._

_He didn't give his name, but according to him their mother had gotten him put away for quite some time. Now that he was free, he wanted pay back. He knew that she had been MIA for the past three years, but wouldn't it be nice and tragic for her if she came back and found out that her three children had been murdered?_

_Faith had whimpered and buried her face into Rain's shirt once he had revealed his plans, while he gently squeezed his twin's hand, trying to assure her that it would all be alright some how. As the oldest siblings, they had been the ones to be strong and hold it together for Faith's sake, telling her that they were all going to be rescued safe and sound pretty soon. Even now they were trying to remain calm, but that was tested when their captor began spouting crap about their mother._

_"I bet she left your father because he's a workaholic and a wuss."_

_His words bothered Rain extremely, and made his anger flare up. Hell no! She loved Hope, she would never abandon any of them like that! Grr, he had half a mind to tell this bastard that no matter the consequences, but Ashling snapped before he did._

_"Shut up!"_

_They all flinched, and Rain tried to harshly whisper her to be quiet._

_"Heck I bet she's sleeping with another man right now..."_

_"I said shut-up!"_

_She banged her fists on the table right beside the man, a fire spell unexpectedly exploding from her fists. Surprised, Rain yanked himself and Faith down to the floor for cover, not even knowing that she could use magic, but she was probably just as surprised as he was. Faith had fallen silent, and he saw that it was because she had hit her head hard on the floor and was now unconscious. He was about to look to see that Ashling too was ok when he heard her scream._

_"You little brat!"_

_Fear settled in at once. He heard a few things get knocked over, and turned to see Ashling caught and struggling in their captor's grasp_.

_"You'll be the first to go then!"_

_His eyes widened in horror as the gun was placed to the side of her head. He could see her pale and stiffen in fear as she looked to him, eyes full of terror and fear._

_"Rain, help me!" She pleaded as she continued to pointlessly struggle against the man._

_He was frozen with fear, but his hand brushed against something cold and metal. His eyes turned to see it was the other gun, likely one of the things that was knocked off the table. And now it was within his reach. Without hesitation he snatched it up and got to his feet, steady aiming and pointing it right at the man's head._

_"Let her go!"_

_He wasn't planning to pull the trigger, just scare him into letting his twin go. But that didn't happen. The man smirked as he called his bluff, and went to pull the trigger on her head. Two gun shots rang out, one right after the other. Two bodies silently fell to the floor after, both of them bleeding from their gunshot wounds to the head._

_He didn't notice that the front door burst open moments later, that Hope, Noel and a handful of soldiers had come to rescue them. He didn't hear any of their voices, he didn't see Noel pick up Faith and take her away before she woke up. He didn't even feel his father's warm comforting hand on his shoulder as the other gently pried the gun out of his hands, softly talking to him to try to snap out of his dazed state._

_He only silently stared at the corpses on the floor, and the slowly growing pool of blood that was forming around them. He had killed a man. Ashling was dead. He had killed a man and Ashling was dead. He had killed a man for nothing, there was blood on his hands for nothing._

_Only when he saw the body bags come into view, and them reach for Ashling, did he snap out of it. He screamed and tore himself away from his father, running towards his fallen twin and knelt by her corpse, picking her up by her shoulders and gently shaking her, begging and crying for her to open her eyes and wake up, to prove that she was ok._

_Eventually she was pried away from him, and his father gently hugged him and began stroking his hair as he continued to sob. He continued to sob, and stared his now blood stained hands. Bloodstained from touching her, from failing to save her..._

"Rain...? Are you ok?"

A soft touch on his shoulder brought him back to the present, back in the corner of the dark room. Rainbow sat in front of him, but he was only barely aware of her. Hadn't he locked the door? How'd she get in? He had to be seeing things...

"I couldn't save her..."

In his hands he had Ashling's old tear drop pendent, one of the only things he had left of her. At once she moved to hug him, making him stiffen immediately.

"She's fine, she doesn't like to see you cry..."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He screamed, shoving her away at once and crawling back as far as he could go.

"Rain..."

"It was all my fault...Oh Etro, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't blame yourself!"

"But if I had killed that man sooner then she would still be alive!" He flinched at the memory. "All that blood..." His hands trembled. "You don't know what it's like to kill someone...And all for nothing..."

She once again tried to hug him, and was repeatedly shoved away, but gently this time.

"I'm pathetic...A horrible older brother..."

"No you're not, she still loves you."

"I've only been holding it together believing she's in a better place now...I would hate it if she could see me like this right now..."

"Then, please don't cry, and stop blaming yourself."

"You don't know how it feels! I swear part of me died with her! Ever since then I've had this terrible feeling of emptiness..."

"You think I don't know? I lost people that were important to me...You're not the only one..."

"...Claire..." He whispered, reminding himself of that recently, slowly coming out of his unstable broken state and back to normal.

"Yes..."

"I talked to Nora earlier...Since I know how it feels." He sighed, wiping his tears as he continued to calm down. "Mom's probably devastated now that she's found out about Ashling...And she doesn't know about Serah yet..."

"Don't worry, I'm here with you, I'm your sister too."

He nodded silently.

"And I promise I'll protect both you and Faith...If I have to see either of you get seriously hurt I'm going to break..."

"Don't worry about me, I will protect you too."

"Just promise me you'll be ok when we leave this world for good. I have to know my little sister's gonna be ok."

She nodded, her cheerful smile returning.

"I promise, we are Farron, we are strong."

That was right, he needed to be strong. He reminded himself of that, strong for Faith, to protect her so something like Ashling never happened again. Already, he was starting to rebuild the mental and emotional walls that had crumbled, the walls that kept his breakdowns in, shutting in those emotions. It wasn't healthy, but it was how he knew how to deal with it. Just take life one day at a time...

"Thanks...For talking to me I mean. I think I'm ok now..."

"We are brethren, remember that."

He nodded, then sighed as he stood up. "I think I'm gonna try and get some sleep..."

"Yeah I think you should rest..."

He had guessed that his breakdown had woken her up, so she needed some as well...But he was still pretty damn sure he had locked the door. Yet when he looked, it was indeed unlocked and cracked open.

"Goodnight then."

He shrugged it off. Whatever then, his thoughts were all messed up when he was unstable like that...

* * *

"See you in the morning..."

As Rainbow left the room and saw Rain nod and close the door behind her, she turned and saw that Ashling briefly appeared in front of her transparent and smiled.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She had even unlocked the door for her, though before Rainbow could respond, she faded from her sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sighs* Reasons for why this took so long? *Guiltly points at my tumblr RP blogs* That's pretty much the only thing I've really felt like writing for...But yeah I'm still here, but school and work are starting to slap me in the face, and I'm also having computer problems -_-


	15. XIII Slow Small Steps

_**XIII Slow Small Steps** _

 

"Good morning," Rain greeted Jivana cheerfully as she walked into the kitchen. Any signs of his breakdown from the night before were gone. "Want anything?"

 "Uhmm...Maybe some pancakes?"

He nodded, then went to fix them for her. Rainbow had been up earlier and made some for herself, and while she cleaned up most of the mess she had left the stuff out in case anyone else wanted to make some more, so he went right to work. 

"You know, I really am glad Etro saved you, and you chose to change sides..."

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad than you are ok, too." She said with a smile. "Thanks for everything."

"And you're feeling alright? Nothing feels…different?" He asked as he placed her food on a plate and slid it in front of her. "Etro said you would be alive and have a soul, but not much else," he half lied.

"Mmm... no, I think I'm fine, just hungry."

"Well go ahead and eat up then," he said with a smile as he grabbed an apple for himself. "Is it ok if I ask to know more about you? We’re not enemies now, so I'd like to try and become friends."

"What do you wanna know?"

"Well..." he paused, taking a bite of his apple. "You're free now, so what do you want to do with your future? Any ideas?"

"Well, not yet..."

He nodded. "Nothing wrong with that." Another bite from the apple. "I wanna become a soldier like my mom, I promised someone I would..."

"I'm sure you will." She encouraged. 

He smiled. "Hopefully, yes. I want to help protect people." He reached up and gripped Ashling's tear drop pendant. "I need to make up for not saving Ashling..."

At this, she frowned, then reached forward and placed her hand on top of his, making him flinch slightly. 

"Don't blame yourself..."

He glanced at her sadly, then sighed. 

"I'm guessing you heard my stupid panic attack and break down last night? Not one of my best moments..."

"You worry much. Don't do that, it's bad for you. Don't think in the past, look towards the future, move towards it."

He sighed, squeezing her hand. "I suppose you're right...Plus I was able to save you, and that helps a bit..."

"Don't think about it, and eat something."

"Alright, sheesh," he said as he went back to his apple. He didn't notice that he was still holding her hand until she smiled at him and he glanced down at it.

He blushed, then coughed awkwardly as he let go. "Sorry..." he muttered.

"Don't say that again. Don't say 'sorry' or 'it was my fault'."

"Alright..." He finished his apple, and tossed the core into the trash can. "So back to questions? You can ask me stuff too if you want."

"Ok. Hmm...Why did you save me?"

He sighed. The big question..."Caius killed you because you spared me. I felt guilty...That and I owed you for sparing Faith." He wasn't going to add that he had a crush too, not yet.

"I see...Well, next question: what you like to do for fun?"

He shrugged. "Mainly training to get stronger, but I usually play some video games from time to time, too." He smiled. "What about you?"

"Before was kill people." She said flatly with a smirk, making him pale awkwardly.

"Uh...."

"But now I'm not quite sure..."

He cleared his throat and once again coughed awkwardly.

"Yeeeah I think you need to find a new hobby..."

"I know," she said, giggling a bit.

"We can work on that later..." he muttered. "Tell me, did you ever go to school? Or did you just learn things from Caius?"

"What is 'school'?" She asked, with her eyebrow raised. Clearly she hadn't heard of it. "And yes, Caius taught me some things, but only what he thought I needed to know."

He nodded. "School is basically a place for everyone to learn things. Reading, writing, math, science, history...That sort of stuff."

"Oh I see. No, when I was born I knew all that."

He blinked, a bit surprised, but she didn't seem to be lying. He had to remind himself that she hadn't been "born" like everyone else...

"Really? That's...Pretty amazing there."

"Thanks."

"I like smart girls," he complimented with a soft smile.

She smiled back at him again. Then he blushed, realizing what he said. "I-" He groaned, hit his head on the table and yanked his scarf over his head. "I can't believe I just said that..." There he goes, flirting a bit again. This needed to stop..."If you have any more questions for me go ahead, but I'm done with yours for now..." he muttered, not moving from his faceplant on the table.

"Well, I don't know what else I can ask you..."

He sighed, yanked his scarf off his face and glanced up at her. "Anything as long as it's not about Ashling, please...But I do have one more question for you..."

He spoke a bit more seriously now, which caused her to frown slightly. It was like they were back in that field again, before he asked her to spare Faith's life. 

"Um..."

"You _are_ coming back with us to my world right? When all this if over?"

"Why?"

"I told you before, its a nice and peaceful future with no Caius..."

"...Maybe."

Hesitation was in her words, and all over her face, too. It was clear to him that he was making her uncomfortable with this. 

"You've got time to think about it...But I would like you to come with, become good friends and stuff..."

Yes, he wanted to get to know her more because of his stupid crush, he had admitted that much to himself silently, but was going to keep his feelings to himself for now. 

"Friends and stuff..." she repeated softly, glancing down. "For real?"

"Yes for real. We're not trying to kill each other now, so why not? I really do think we could be good friends you know..." Or something more, but he didn't say that.

"You're so nice to me Rain...Why?"

"Because I trust you now. Is that so wrong?"

"I guess not..."

"Then there's no problem with it." He said with a smile. "As long as you don't go chucking knives and spells at me again, I'm going to continue being nice to you. And I want it to stay like this...No more fighting each other..."

"That would be great."

He sighed from relief, glad that she agreed with him on that note.

"Good." He held out his hand. "Then we can agree then? Trust and friendship? Not enemies?"

"I guess..."

"You don't sound so sure..."

"Yes, I'm sure."

But her smile was half forced now, he could tell that much, as well as there still being uncertainty in her words. Perhaps it was best to leave this conversation for now, then...

"Alright..." he sighed, then squeezed her hand. "I really do trust you now...I hope you know that..."

She fell silent and glanced down, making it even more awkward. He sighed under his breath, then glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up. 

"Mom said she wanted me to train with her about now, so I'll see you later."

"Oh, ok. See you later, then."

"Just be careful, ok? If I were you, I wouldn't leave the village. If Caius finds out you're alive, he might try and kill you again."

He smiled as he nodded at her, then left.

* * *

 

"Again."

Rain panted as he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead. Lightning had warned him that she wouldn't be going easy on him, but he didn't mind. With him getting his ass kicked by both Caius and Jivana, he needed to get stronger. She was training Faith with him, too, but being a bit more gentle with her since she was only barely out of the basics. 

Currently the three of them were back in their own New Bodhum, mainly so their energy wouldn't be depleted drastically. However, Rain was feeling just fine in either world now, probably because of his little deal with Etro...But of course he kept that all to himself still. 

There hadn't been a single word about Ashling with her. He noticed the faint circles under her eyes, a sign that she hadn't slept much, but again didn't comment on it. If she didn't want to talk about Ashling's sudden death, that was more than fine with him. 

_And yet she's still kicking my ass..._

He hadn't been able to land a single solid hit no matter what he tried. She had bluntly pointed out his mistakes each time she was able to dodge, counter, or block, all of which he took silent notes of. He was too stubborn to give up, determined to at least succeed in something during this session...

He took a deep breath, gripping both his gunblades tightly as he ran at her again. He slashed his sword at her, and she quickly blocked it with her own. He then fired a blank from his other gunblade, but she spun around to avoid it and seconds later he found her gunblade held against his throat.

"Not bad, but you're noticeably slowing down. If your enemies notice that then you're done for." Then she pulled her weapon away, sheathing it entirely. "You're done for the day, I don't want you to push yourself to collapsing."

He was too worn out and sore to argue. Instead he just sighed, sheathed his own weapons, and unceremoniously took a seat on the ground to catch his breath.

"You really _are_ strong, Mom…" 

"You'll get there eventually," she said as she knelt down in front of him and ruffled his hair, half smiling calmly. "You've got some skill already, that much I can tell. Just keep at it and you'll get better."

He nodded, smiling now since he was being praised a bit. Of course he knew much better then to let it go to his head. He decided that, even though she had been a little hard on him, he would likely be sore and aching for the rest of the day, and maybe even have a couple minor bruises, he liked these little training bonding moments. He wanted them to last, he wanted them to keep happening, he wanted her to come home with them for good...

"Thanks, Mom…" Was all he said as she helped him up. 

"Get some rest, alright? We'll pick back up tomorrow."

Nodding, he headed towards the NORA house. Faith's training session had ended sooner, so she would already be there relaxing with their dad, along with Noel and Kristof. After Claire’s death, Noel had taken Kristof and strictly stayed in their world, but remained in New Bodhum so he could still be close to everyone else. 

Hope had done the same, now researching possible ways Caius could be defeated without killing Etro, and discussing some of his theories with Noel. So far there hadn't been any solid ideas, not from what he'd heard anyway. 

Rain sighed as he calmly walked through the front door, watched his dad look up from his laptop, and greeted him with a smile while he whipped his shoes off and tossed them aside. Hope asked how training had gone, and he just shrugged and grumbled in response as he headed right towards the bathroom for a shower. 

He sighed as he felt the water begin to sooth his aches and pains, taking his time and enjoying it as he gently scrubbed off all the dirt and sweat, then just took a minute to relax under the water. He was still aching after he got out, but at least he was clean now. He sighed as he dried himself off with a towel, then realized he hadn't grabbed any clean clothes before hand.

Normally he wouldn't mind just walking down the hall to his "room" to get some, knowing that his dad had brought some from home for him and Faith, but the mark on his chest...He gulped as he stared at it for a moment, then glanced down at his dirty, sweaty clothes on the floor. Blech, just gonna have to risk it. 

Grabbing them up off the floor, he held them close to his chest to cover the glowing mark, then stepped out into the hall and quickly headed into the other room, before softly shutting the door. He breathed a soft sigh of relief, then tossed the dirty clothes in the dirty laundry pile while he grabbed some fresh ones and began to change.

It was then when he spotted it out of the corner of his eye: his old navy blue acoustic guitar. It brought back memories…memories of Ashling. She had been the one who supported his musical hobby the most, saving up her allowance to buy it for him. It was a talent and hobby that he usually kept to himself, pretty much only playing for his sisters when they asked. After Ashling had died, he played at her funeral, and began to pick it up less and less. It made him think of her too much. His heart sank when he played those strings, sometimes even a few tears fell. Eventually, he decided he couldn't look at the damn thing, so the last time they had been in New Bodhum for a vacation he had brought it and left it here. 

He didn't remember how long ago that was, but now he found himself walking towards it, picking it back up, and staring at it as he sat down with it. A thin layer of dust covered it, but it was intact and still perfectly playable as far as he could tell. Before he knew it, he was pulling the strap over his shoulder, and slowly reaching for the strings...

* * *

 

Hope glanced up from his computer when he heard the front door open, and saw his wife silently walk in. Nothing but awkward silence followed, they even broke eye contact with each other once it happened, making the situation even worse. Yes, they needed to talk, they both knew that. But where to start? Who would be the first to speak? It was safe to say neither one of them wanted to be the first, but the silence was broken when the soft music was heard coming from the other room. Naturally, both of them turned to face it, Lightning's eye brow raised and Hope's eyes slightly widened with surprise.

"He still plays?"

"Not in ages..."

The couple glanced at each other for a brief moment, then slowly moved towards the hallway in unison. Rain's door was shut, an obvious sign that he wanted privacy, so they just listened from the hall. Occasionally they heard him pause and grumble or mutter a curse when he messed up, but for having not touched the instrument in a few years he was doing rather well. 

"Maybe it's a sign that he's finally starting to heal for good and move on..." Hope softly whispered, thinking out loud. 

Lightning said nothing, just lowered her gaze and walked away. He reached out to try and stop her, but hesitated and let her leave as she wanted. If she wanted comfort then she would come to him for it, at least that's what he told himself. But in reality it just felt like she was purposely drifting apart from him...And she didn't even know about Serah yet. He stood there and sighed as he reminded himself about that one. 

"Light..."

What was he going to do about this?

_Please don't go. Light..._


	16. XIV Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so an update on...Everything. My lovely partner, had basically stepped away from anything and everything fandom related for the time being to focus on school, which is all to understandable since she's just starting college and I know what that's like. I myself are taking five freaking classes and working two jobs...Needless to say I am slightly sleep deprived and moody about life -___-
> 
> But I am determined to finish this damn story asap. It's all written out, just need to edit, edit, and edit some more until my brain dies. With all this being said, I haven't handed this chapter over to my beta because I just wanna be done with this and move on to slowly writing other fics between life and my tumblr rp addiction. So please bear with me a bit?

_**XIV Confessions** _

Rain sighed as he walked over to Jivana, back from yet another training session. It had been about two weeks, and they had been getting along pretty well. A bit of a routine had developed too. He would chat with her over breakfast, train with his mom and sister until she decided he had enough for one day, then after relaxing and talking with Hope about any ideas on how to stop Caius before going back to the other world and spending more time with Jivana. He hardly saw both his parents at the same time, and couldn't help but wonder if this was what having divorced parents was like...

Naturally he tried not to think of such things. When he was with Jivana those thoughts were far from his mind. They would usually just walk along the beach and quiet places in the village. He would tell her about the future, how it all came to be and what living on Bhunivelze was like. She would never ask anything to personal, which increased his respect for her. In return, he never mentioned a work about Caius and Yuel, thus her temper was in check.

He would try and get her to talk about what she wanted for her own future now that she was free, but she would always shake her head and say she didn't know yet. So he would drop it, not wanting to pressure her and make her explode at him again.

Occasionally they would see Nora out and about too, but she never approached them. She had thanked him for talking to her about Ashling and comforting her before, but since then there wasn't a word between them...She would wave and smile softly, and he would notice that she would be wearing something of Claire's like her blue jacket, or a fluffy girly skirt that just seemed out of place for her. However he knew she was likely going to be alright when he caught the sight of her with an arm around a girl her age, laughing softly and smiling a bit brighter. She had waved as usual, with a smile that just couldn't be fake or forced. The message was clear: I'm still mourning, but I'll be ok.

His feelings for Jivana were also slowly growing...Every time he made her smile or laugh his heart was filled with joy, the kind that just felt that it was beyond friendship. He kept it to himself as he thought it over, thinking back to high school. The girls he had gone out with one or twice...There hadn't been any of that, not a single spark. But when he was with Jivana, he felt like nothing in the world mattered any more. As long as he was with her...Everything would be alright.

He decided it was time to tell her the truth, both about the price he paid for her as well as his feelings. Still, as he approached her while she was wandering about on the beach in the afternoon, her back to his, nervousness started to surface. He gulped, then sighed as he tapped her shoulder.

"I need to talk to you about something..." he muttered. "But not here." He offered his hand out to her.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, glancing down at his hand for a moment.

"About what?"

"I...I just need to tell you about something alright? But again not here, just trust me?"

"Okay..."

He smiled, then took her hand and led her through the village and to the gate to his world, then back to the lily field he had shown her before.

"Ok, we've got privacy here..." He glanced around to be sure, nodding when he was satisfied that they were indeed along from both people and monsters. "It's about what happened in Valhalla." He paused to take a deep breath. "I've been keeping part of the story from you and everyone else...Only Faith knows the truth..."

She flinched a bit, eyes going from confusion to worry.

"What happened then?"

"Etro did bring you back because I asked her too, that much is true...But I paid the price for it..."

"What price?"

Yeah, concern was definitely in her eyes now...Ugh, this was just going to make it harder. He didn't want her to feel guilty about the decision he made.

"...You remember how you had that choas crystal keeping you alive?"

He slowly lifted up his shirt, revealing the crystallized mark in Etros symbol over his heart. She stared at it, almost tranced by it before she glanced back up at him, confusion back in her eyes.

"What is that?"

"Same sort of thing you had. Right now Etros power is the only thing keeping me alive...Because I gave my life force to you, that was the price I had to pay."

"Rain..." She shook her head at him as she closed her eyes. "No..."

"Its ok." He put his shirt back down and smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder for assurance. "I don't regret my descision."

"You didn't have to do that..." She muttered, staring down at her feet, unable to look him in the eyes.

"I did..." he muttered, holding her hands gently. "You were killed because you spared me, I couldn't live with that guilt on my shoulders."

"And now what?" She demanded, her head snapping back up at him. "What will happen to you?"

"As long as the goddess lives, I'll be just fine. I'm just as mortal as everyone else she said, I'll age and die just the same."

"Good."

She seemed relieved at that, so he nodded and smiled softly. But now...

"Yeah...But there's something else too..." He muttered blushing slightly as he felt butterflies come back to his stomach. Now came the hard part.

"Listen...Since I first brought you here..."

He didn't finish, a Behemoth was approaching them fast. He didn't have time to wonder where the hell that damn thing came from, or even draw his gunblades to defend right now. It was heading right for Jivana and she hadn't noticed one bit.

"Look out!" He shoved her aside, drawing his gunblade to block the monsters claws. His weapon cracked under the pressure and it being more than a few years old, then shattered sending bits and pieces of metal flying everywhere. One landed in his right eye, causing him to scream in pain before the monster knocked him aside.

"Rain!

He sat up, one hand clutching his bleeding eye, while the other reached for his other gunblade. Thank the Goddess that he had two...Though his arms had gotten scratched when he was knocked away, price of trying to defend himself with his arms in front of him. He stiffened when he saw how bad the wounds were, Ashling's corpse flashing into his mind.

_No._

This was no time for a breakdown. He shoved the images away, then pulled himself to his feet.

"Run Jivana!"

He had to protect her, to give her time to get away. He had remembered that a little while back she told him she was completely unable to use her magic now, for it was the chaos that had fueled it. She still had her knieves, but from those battles he had with her he knew that magic was her strong point.

"You'll be ok?" She asked concerned, getting to her feet and glancing from him to the monster.

"For a little while." He said casting cure and pointing his blade at the massive beast while he winced from the pain "Just go! Go get my mom or Noel!" They had to be in the area...If he could just hold off long enough for one of them to come to his rescue he would be fine right?

"Ok, just be careful!"

He nodded, still holding his eye with one hand. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and he couldn't see a thing out of that eye either way...He muttered a curse as he watched her get away safely before he took a defensive stance.

Ok. He told himself. He could handle this, it was just one lousy monster, Behemoth or not...Low chorusing growls from behind it made him pale and gulp as he took a step back. Alright, make that three monsters, a pack of Behemoths against him when he was half blind and all scratched up. He chuckled nervously, half wondering if trying to yank out the shrapnel that was buried in his eye a good idea, if it would let him see clearly again then maybe he could figure this out...

He gathered up the energy needed for regen, not daring to look and see how badly his arm was bleeding. It probably was a good idea not to move it that much, but he knew he had to defend himself against these things! A nervous chuckle escaped him as he took a few cautious steps back while they approached, good eye trying to find an escape route before they had him surrounded...

But what he assumed to be the pack leader leapt at him before he could finish. He backed up and fired his gunblade at it at once, doing his best to aim with only one eye, pulling the trigger until it clicked empty. No good, just made the beast angrier while he managed to duck and roll out of the way in time.

He groaned though, pain flaring up at the move. aching enough to make him not want to get back up again. As he glanced back over at the pack that was slowly approaching him once more, he realized that his gunblade had slipped out of his grasp and ended up a couple yards away, long out of his reach.

_Shit..._

The pack was slowly approaching with a chorus of low growls at their prey. He gulped, fear settling in as his vision began to blur from the pain and blood loss. Once he saw them move to leap at him, he could only squeeze his eyes shut and shield himself with his bleeding arms as he waited for it to be over...But there was only silence.

Slowly, he cracked his left eye open, wondering what had saved him this time. The first thing he noticed was that the monsters weren't budging an inch; frozen in time mid leap, less than a yard away from him. He felt his heart skip a beat as he suddenly struggled to breath for a moment, and thats when he noticed the paradox energy flickering at his own fingertips.

_Wha...?_

He tensed in confusion, hands trembling a bit as his vision continued to blur and the pain increased. Then the voice came, not one heard with his ears or in his mind, but in his heart. A day of his lifespan used up for each second time was stopped, that was the price for this power. He glanced down at his mark, noticing it glowin brightly beneath his shirt and knew that it was true.

_Why did you give me this power Goddess? I didn't ask for it._

No time to think much now though, he knew he couldn't hold it much longer, especially since it had happened by pure luck and accident. With the last of his strength he once again rolled out the way of being struck, releasing the spell at the same time allowing the pack to return to normal time as if nothing had happened. Though his remaining energy left him at once, making him groan and mentally curse as he finally slipped away into unconsciousness.

* * *

Hope sighed as he finished talking to one of the doctors, running a hand through his hair as he walked back to Lightning and Jivana in the waiting room. Light and Noel had gotten there just in time, right after he had slipped into unconsciousness. Noel had dealt with the pack, while she had taken Rain to the hospital without a second thought. The doctors had taken him away at once, able to remove all the shrapnel and stitch up his wounds no problem, but it wasn't all good news...

The Director bit his lip once he saw the girls glance up at him, eagerly awaiting to pass on what he had been told. So with a sigh, he spoke softly.

"They said he's going to be just fine...But that they unfortunately had to completely remove his right eye..."

"Remove his eye?!" Lightning repeated, standing up at once as her own eyes widened at the mere thought.

"T-This is my fault, I didn't have to leave him..."

He glanced between the two of them for a moment, trying to find the words to comfort both of them.

"But we can get him fitted with an artificial one in a couple weeks." He squeezed Lightnings hand reassuringly. "He  _will_  see again Light..." Then he turned to Jivana and placed a hand on her shoulder. "No ones at fault for this, but why don't you go talk to him? He should be awake by now."

The blonde nodded softly, standing up from her seat, but keeping her gaze lowered as she walked away from the couple and silently walked towards the room Rain was in. The door was already open, but she still cautiously poked her head in first. Sure enough Rain sat in his hospital bed and stared the cieling silently, his right eye heavily bandaged as well as his arms.

She sighed to herself as she stepped in softly, frowning when she could see how scratched up he had really gotten due to all those bandages. He didn't glance her way or acknowledge her presence as she pulled up the chair beside him, but then she finally spoke.

"Rain...You will be ok...You're strong." She gently reached over and took his hand, finally able to snap him out of whatever state of thought he was in.

"I know..." He said as he turned to her and gently squeezed her hand. "But you heard what they said, they had to completely remove my eye...If the artifical one doesn't work right then...Then I can't be a soldier..."

"Don't say that! You'll be a great soldier, so don't give up like this...It's more important that your still alive."

"If I can't see right they won't let me join..." He reached up and felt the bandages over his eye before sighing. "You're right though...Were both alive right now, that's something..."

"Exactly, so don't worry about being a soldier, you have your friends and family."

He nodded. "And I have you right now too..." He said as he blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um...About what I was going to say before we were attacked..."

"Uh, yes?"

"I was a little unsure before this but..." He sighed, and slowly sat up, flinching at the pain. "My mom said something to me once: 'You know you love someone when you lay down your life for them'." He paused, and held her hand as he looked her in the eye. "I've done that twice for you now...Jivana, I think I'm falling for you..."

"Rain..." Blush filled her face at once. "I-I don't know what to say."

"Its ok if you don't feel the same way...But I would at least like to continue to get to know you better..."

"...I hope you get better soon."

She was avoiding things again, but he didn't get any signs of an outright rejection, so he was alright with this for now.

"I'm sure I will..." He said with a soft smile as he gently stroked her cheek. "I'm strong like you said."

She smiled back at him, making them both chuckle softly. Moments later a nurse came in and told Rain he needed to rest. He grumbled, but decided she was right. Before he laid back down, he kissed Jivana on the cheek. "Visit me later?"

"Yes. I will so don't worry, please just rest."

"I will." He said as he waved goodbye

* * *

"Tell me something Faith."

Faith was helping Lightning with the dishes one night. She had been worried about Rain, and was keeping a close eye on him. His wounds had healed nicely, and he had been released from the hospital within a few days. Once he had recovered and gained his energy back, he insisted on a training session with her, even in his current half blind state. She had even taken it easy on him that time around, but he hadn't lasted against her long. Crushed by this, he had said to wait until his sight was back to normal before training any more with her...She agreed, but noticed how hurt on the inside he had been by this fact. Now she was worried for another reason, for she noticed he seemed to be spending more and more time with Jivana, and she didn't like that one bit.

"What  _really_ happened in Valhalla?"

Faith immediately paused drying the plate, but didn't say anything.

"Rain told you the truth, Etro brought Jivana back to life."

"Just like that?"

She folded her arms, not buying it. Faith hadn't looked her in the eye as she spoke, and now she was trying to ignore her as she put the dry dishes away.

"Faith..."

No response, but she knew silence was one of her nervous habits. She was hiding something alright.

"Serah."

She flinched at her first name.

"Tell me what happened."

She caught the glimpse of her mother looking down at her with folded arms, and finally caved.

"RaingavehislifeforcetoJivanaandnowhe'sonlyaliveun derEtro'spower." She blurted.

"WHAT?!"

She stomped away immediately, wanting to talk to Rain.

* * *

Currently he was JUST getting out the shower, and in the middle of tying a towel around his waist when Lightning kicked open the door making him flinch.

"What the hell mom?!"

He caught her glare, and he instantly shut his mouth and gulped.

_Oh shit..._

She was PISSED, and he also realized his crystallized mark from Etro on his chest was showing.

"Rainstorm. Flood. Estheim."

He whimpered. The full name was never a good sign...He flinched when she stomped towards him, glancing down at his mark for a moment before glaring back up at him.

"Faith told me everything." She folded her arms, and he chuckled nervously. "What the hell were you thinking mister?"

"I was guilt ridden!"

"That's no excuse for laying down your life for a  _enemy_!"

"You would do the same thing for dad and we both know it!"

"Your father and I were never  _enemies_ " She stressed the word once more, throwing up one of her hands in exasperation.

"Jivana and I  _were_ enemies, past tense mom."

"A past that wasn't to long ago remember?"

"I don't care! I'm in love with her damn it!"

It was her turn to flinch and fall silent now, taken back by his words.

"You don't really mean that..."

"I do." he spat.

"How the hell could you fall for her?!"

" 'You know you love someone when you lay down your life for them'. Isn't that what you told me? Well it's happened twice now."

She fell silent as he folded his arms. Checkmate.

"I don't approve of this..."

"I don't care."

"Rain, you have to understand that she's evil!"

"No she's not mom! She's changed!"

"People like her never change!"

"Yeah well you haven't seen her attacking anyone recently have you?" He folded his arms."She's on our side now for good and you know it."

"You shouldn't trust her." She spat, mimicking his pose while continuing to glare at him ruthlessly.

"You don't know her so what gives you the right to talk about her like this?"

"Because I'm your mother."

That made him scoff and roll his eyes, perhaps a little to dramatic right there.

"Yeah well in case you've forgotten you've been gone for the past ten years so I don't think you can just barge in and start telling me how to run my life!"

"You don't understand-"

"Yeah well here's something for you to understand: If you don't come back with us, you'll be dead to me."

He could vaguely see that he had hit a nerve with that one, seeing her eyes soften just for a moment while her hand twitched.

"Grow up." She spat coldly, clearly trying to shrug this off.

"I grew up when Ashling died. Oh and where were you during that? Sleeping with Cloud? Yeah that's what I thought."

He knew he had taken it to far when he was suddenly slapped across the cheek without warning, making him both flinch and fall silent as he rubbed the now aching spot.

"I see you're not mature enough to understand this situation." She retorted coldly, once again folding her arms.

"Yeah you say that when you come barging in on me while I'm in the shower." He grumbled. "THE SHOWER!" He gestured with his hands, clearly over emphasizing.

"Don't raise your voice!"

"Humph" He muttered as he glanced away. "Whatever...I love Jivana and there's nothing you can do to change that...If I die with Etro then so be it, I won't regret saving her."

"I expected more from you"

"Should've been around these past few years then mom." He said with a glare as he tried to walk past her.

Surprisingly, she let him, so he stomped off to his room, slamming the door closed behind him. He heard her huff followed by her footsteps, not towards his room but rather out the front door, also roughly closing it behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the gate things were rather quiet with Hope and Noel in the NORA house. Kristof had long been put to bed, leaving the two adults free to discuss what to do about Caius. They tossed around ideas and theories calmly for a good hour or two before calling it quits, leaving Hope back to his laptop and Academy work why Noel took the time to clean and polish his blades. The silence ended when the front door swung open without warning, making them both flinch and glance up from their tasks.

"Do you know what your son did?!" Lightning half shouted, staring right at the Director who flinched, blinked then sighed and shook his head.

"Do I want to know?" He asked softly, rubbing his forehead.

"Kristof's sleeping." Noel reminded them in a loud whisper, making Hope nod while Lightning sighed and crossed her arms for what felt like the millionth time that night.

"We'll talk outside then." She said, gesturing Hope to follow her out the door.

"What's going on Light?" He asked when they were alone on the porch, closing the door softly behind them.

"It's that girl, Jivana." She spat the name with disqust as she turned to face her husband, huffing and shaking her head while his eyebrow rose in concern.

"Did she hurt anyone or show signs of double crossing?"

"Not yet..." The pinkette tapped her fingers against her arms, sighing in frustration as she began to pace about. "But apparently Rain made a deal with Etro to bring her back to life, foolishly traded his own life for it, and is only still breathing right now thanks to Etro's power." She threw her hand up in exasperation when she finished, while Hope paled at her words.

"But why would he...?"

"Said he loves her." She half interrupted, making him blink in surprise and shake his head.

"This isn't like him, not at all..." He whispered, glancing down at the floor in both thought and worry.

"Makes you wonder what else he's hiding doesn't it?" She asked, leaning against one of the posts on the porch and muttering about teenagers before turning back to Hope with her eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. "Faith doesn't have a boyfriend does she?"

"None that I'm aware of." He answered, quickly snapping his head and hands up in defense. "She's more of the shy and silent type, not much to worry about I believe."

He watched as Light just sighed and turned her head away, glancing out at the waves that were slowly hitting the shores in the beach.

"There's been something else that's been bothering me..." This time Hope took a step towards her as he glanced towards her in confusion, not expecting the words that came next: "Serah, why isn't she around right now?"

The question made Hope stiffen as his heart skipped a beat, loud enough he could've sworn Light could hear it since she turned back to him a moment after.

"Noel came to find Kristof, but without Serah, and for some reason Faith's changed her name as well? What happened to her Hope? Tell me."

Her demand for answers made him sigh, hands softly clasped together as his eyes softened and his gaze lowered in sadness. Yet another question he had been expecting to hear sooner or later, and had been dreading to answer.

"Tell me." She repeated, sounding a little more demanding this time, making him flinch. He glanced up ever so slightly, and could see the growing concern in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Light...She had a vision the night you vanished."

He saw his beloved's eyes widen at once at this news, knowing full well what he meant without even saying anything else. Once he saw the tears forming, his heart ached at once, but as soon as he took a step towards her to hug her tightly and comfort her in anyway he could, she swiftly turned away and began stomping off.

"Light wait!" He called out, following her at once. "Where are you going? Please talk to me!"

_I'm tired of feeling like I'm losing you..._

"Valhalla." She answered coldly without a glance, making him pause. "I'll find a way...I need to talk to Etro."

He gulped a bit, sensing that whatever she was planning couldn't be much of a good idea. But could he stop her? He could sense that her will was strong, determined to go through with this no matter what he or anyone else said and did.

"Light..." He whispered, sighing softly as he closed his eyes for a moment, then just stood there silently as he watched her go.

_I'm losing her..._


	17. Paradox Ending: Keeping Your Dreams Alive

****

"Listen...Since I first brought you here..."

He didn't finish, a Behemoth was approaching them fast. He didn't have time to wonder where the hell that damn thing came from, or even draw his gunblades to defend right now. It was heading right for Jivana and she hadn't noticed one bit.

  "Look out!" He shoved her aside, drawing his gunblade to block the monsters claws. His weapon cracked under the pressure and it being more than a few years old, then shattered sending bits and pieces of metal flying everywhere. One landed in his right eye, causing him to scream in pain before the monster knocked him aside.

 “Rain!”

She was at her side at once, glancing down at him with worried eyes as he flinched and he held his bleeding wounds, too weak to sit up. "Jivana..."

“Rain we need to go!”

He shook his head. "Go on without me!"

“No! I won’t leave without you so come on!”

"I’ll just slow you down!"

“Don’t be such a pessimist! We can carry on together! You _will_ live Rain…”

The monster was getting ready to pounce on her, so he drew his spare gunblade and shot it to get its attention. "Go while you still can! Don't let my sacrifice be for nothing! I love you damn it!" Tears were running down his face. "Go...please" He could already feel himself start to slip away…

“If you wanna die then fine, but I’m not leaving you here!” She held him close, trying to get him on his feet in order to get away with her.

"Don't you dare get yourself killed with me!" He could see that there was a pack now, hearing the growls of the three of them and trusting his hearing more than his sight. "Run and go get help and you can save me! Please Jivana I'm begging you! Didn't you hear me? I love you damn it..."

She didn’t reply, just held him close and squeezed him tightly, though he was certain he could see a few tears in her eyes before she closed them tightly.

 _Goddess get her out of here please!_ He prayed as the monsters grew closer. He smiled as a portal appeared behind her. "Sorry..." he used the last of his strength to kiss her briefly, then shove her through right before the monsters got to him.

* * *

 

Jivana let out a bit of a surprised yelp, being flung out, hopping to her feet at once and trying to go back to him to help, but it closed within a moment.

“You’ll be ok Rain, just hold on!”

"What the hell is going on?!" She turned around to see Lightning and Noel approaching her, realizing she was on the outskirts of the town.

“It’s Rain! Monster’s attacked us in the field!”

"Damn it! Noel, let's go!" She said before running towards the lily field, the brunette right behind her, leaving Jivana alone…

“Please be alright Rain…” She whispered, silently praying as her heart ached with worry.

* * *

 

Jivana waited anxiously in the Nora house with Hope and Faith, tension filling the air as the silence continued between the three of them. Hope was pacing back and forth slowly, Faith curled up on the couch with Mog in her arms, half snuggling him like a stuffed animal.

Finally, Lightning came back from the field, hands trembling as he clutching Rain’s now torn and blood stained scarf in her hands as she glared at Jivana. "You..." She threw the scarf at her. "This is all your fault!"

They all flinched, seeing Noel trudge in, silent as his head was lowered, tears slowly forming in Lightning’s eyes.

“It wasn’t!” The blonde tried to defend, taking a step back as the scarf fell to the floor around her feet.

"Get out of my sight before I kill you!"

“No! I’m staying here with him!”

"He's gone!" The pinkette pointed to the scarf, eyes not leaving Jivana, pure anger and hated burning in them as she fought against the tears that were about to fall. "That's all that was left! It should've been you damn it!"

“I don’t care what you say, I’m staying here!”

With a growl, Lightning drew her gunblade, making everyone else in the room flinch as she transformed it into its gun form and firmly pointed it at the blonde’s head. "Leave. Now." She demanded, ignoring Hope, who had stepped towards her and gently put a hand on top of hers to try and get her to lower the weapon.

Jivana seemed to be unphased by all of this though, but shivered when she suddenly felt a cool breeze brush past her, two ice cold hands being placed on her shoulder’s from behind.

"Only you can see and hear me right now, please do as she says..."

Her heart skipped a beat, recognizing that it was Rain’s voice and nodding at him silently.

“Okay...You win this time Claire, I’m leaving.”

"Good." She lowered her weapon, Hope sighing from relief and hugging his wife tightly. "And I never want to see you again you hear me?"

“Alight...Have a nice life.”

And with that she left the house without another word, not daring to look back, but could hear the aged soldier crumbling to her knees and breaking down into a fit of sobs about her lost son. Ignoring that and sensing Rain’s spirit following her until they were alone, she stopped and sighed before turning to face him. Before she had a chance to get a good look to look at his transparent ghostly form, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, making her shiver at the cold sensation.

"I'm glad you're ok..."

“You’re an idiot you know that?”

"I know..." He whispered, staring down at his feet. "But I was able to save you...That's enough for me..."

“You didn’t have to do that!” She couldn’t shove him away, so she simply stepped back to get out of his grasp. “I’m not even human!”

"Have you already forgotten what I told you? Thanks to my sacrifice and Etro you are! Don't write yourself off as nothing..."

“But Rain...Your body, your soul!”

"But this part of me is still here, and the goddess already said I could stay like this if I want...Which I will, but only if you'll let me stay by your side..."

“But your family...”

"I'm going to make sure they're ok either way, just like Ashling is apparently." He sighed and shook his head, eyes softening, still full of guilt about her. "I was really hoping she had moved on from the beginning..."

But he shoved those thoughts aside, glancing back at her and smiling softly at her.

"So...When I'm done with that, will you let me haunt you for a while?"

“Don’t do that.” He frowned, but she lifted her hand and continued: “Just...Stay with me ok?”

"Ok..." This time his smile was bright and true, looking her in the eyes as he knelt before her. "Ill keep you safe..." He promised, gently kissing her hand.

“You’re a fool you know?” She said with a bit of an eye roll, but smiling back at him.

"But aren't I _your_ fool now?" He joked, slowly rising to his feet and casually poking her forehead.

“Yes, you are my fool.” She said with a bit of a chuckle.

"And I will be forever." He didn’t hesitate to lean down and kiss her on the cheek, making her both cringe at the cool feeling, and blush at the guesture. "Jivana...My little life angel."

“Please, dont say that. _You_ are my angel now.”

"That's it!" He clapped his hands in joy, suddenly perked up. "Maybe I can ask Etro to make me your guardian angel, sounds better than being a wandering spirit doesn't it?"

“So... You’ll be here by my side?”

"Always, I swear it.”

Once he promised that much, her spirits lifted, glancing down a bit as her heart fluttered at all this, but then looked back up at him with a soft smile, slowly reaching out.

“I wanna hug you…”

"Well I'm still trying to get this whole touch as a ghost thing down but..." He sighed, seeming to focus and concentrate silently for a moment before gently pulling her into a hug so she wouldn't pass right through him. "There...Better?"

“Yes... I think so.”

"Well then..." he said as he stepped back a bit and glanced around. “Any plans? Other than avoid Caius I hope...Other than that I’ll follow you where ever you go..."

“Thanks Rain.”

"Your welcome..."

“Everything will be fine now right?”

"Yeah, I’ll make sure of it...Somehow..."

 Rain kept his promises. First he visited his family, assuring him that he was alright after his death and that he would be passing on soon. Of course that was a lie, also keeping secret about Ashling also lingering around upon her request. He trusted his twin with watching over them, while he did the same with his beloved.

 For a couple years, she was just a wandering nomad, slipping through the gate and entering the future parallel world permanently. He never heard a word from his family again, but after a month or so he felt Ashling finally pass on to whatever awaited in the afterlife, so he was certain that everything was alright with them.

 His goal was to protect Jivana until she passed away from natural causes, especially since once she became a legal adult decided to join the Guardian Corps. She was living for him is what she told him, keeping his dreams alive even though he was technically gone. And that made him love her even more…  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda feel this could’ve been better >_> This was written the same time as the other paradox ending, once again taking out my angst on Rain XD The intention of it was to be completely angsty and tragically, but then it suddenly turned cute, fluffy, and feels and we just went with it.
> 
> Only three chapters left now, the next one might end up being the longest…


	18. XV Request

Lightning huffed to herself as she stomped away from her first husband, grumbling under her breath in frustrating, cursing her emotions that were turning into a whirlwind within her. Her sister was dead…Dead.

The soldier part of her was always strong, but not Claire…That part of her was now mourning the loss of her youngest sister, and thinking of her nephew that was growing up without ever getting the chance to go know her. Was that what she wanted to go back to? If she stayed she had both her sister and her niece.

"Damn you Goddess…"

She knew it wasn't entirely Etro's fault, but she needed someone to blame, anyone, so she wouldn't end up blaming herself.

Her feet had brought her right up to the crystal pillar, making her sigh softly as she reached out and brushed her fingers over the crystal. Fang and Vanille were trapped up there…And she was certain that the other Lightning was too. Was that meant to be in this world, or had Etro altered history when she was brought here?

So many questions among the thoughts that she needed to get across to the Goddess. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the power that had been granted to her all those years ago, trying to sense if any gateway to Valhalla was near. After all, not only was this the place where she had been dropped twenty years ago, but Rain, Faith, and Jivana had been found around here as well.

"Please let me in…" She pleaded softly, snapping her eyes open moments later when she felt a sudden shift in the air. Sure enough, a golden time rift had appeared only a mere two yards behind her, so she stepped through without hesitation.

* * *

The night had been a long one, and Hope sat at the bar area of the house by himself, drinking a cup of coffee. It was apparent that he didn't get any sleep at all, and Light had left hours ago. She had lived up to her name last night, temper flared in his direction. She wanted to know how long he knew that  _his_ sonhad the mark on his chest. Yes, she got pissed at Rain and he wasn't her son at the moment, he was Hope's. They both knew that Rain wasn't denounced or anything, Light was just mad at him. Hope tried to use the calm and reasoning approach, telling her he had no idea what she was talking about with Rain. Still irritated, Light explained the situation, keeping the "your son" approach.

Hope didn't want to risk pushing her any farther away from him than she already was. Cloud was a threat to his marriage, but taking it out on her wasn't going to solve anything.

He didn't point out in the middle of her fury that Rain was more her son than his most of the time. He didn't understand why Rain chose to do this, wouldn't until he got Rain's side of the story. What he did know is that it wasn't a surprise that Rain would have done that. There had to be a reason.

The way that eventually calmed down Light enough was promising that he would make sure this wasn't going to hurt Rain. This temper outbreak was the concerns of a mother... Hope planned in the next hour to cross over and talk to him, ask him to take some tests, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him walk through the door unannounced beforehand, softly calling for him.

"Dad?" He called as he stepped in. "You here? Is mom with you?"

"Your mother went to Valhalla." Hope replied, tired smile. It wasn't Rain's fault... Okay, maybe it was, but if what Rain got the full brunt of what Hope did, that was enough screaming in his direction. "Good morning. If you can call it that."

His son groaned and face palmed when he heard where she went. "Please tell me she didn't go to yell at someone who could just snap her fingers and end my freaking life...And yeah...Morning." He grumbled.

Hope reached over to ruffle Rain's hair. He would just shake his head and some sort of hollow smile. Exasperation...

"I would if I could. I think if Etro was going to she wouldn't have revived you. She probably has something in mind that we can't see yet. Coffee's still hot if you want some." He planned to ask Rain about testing, but wanted to not do it right off. Not make it sound like he's itching to get his hands on it. In truth, Hope's afraid of if it is actually harmful to him or not.

The pinkette grumbled a bit, a sign touchy mood right now, but didn't shove him away. Instead he just went straight for the coffee pot when it was mentioned.

"I'm gonna tell you right now. If you start bickering at me or slap me like she did I'm leaving." He said as he poured himself a cup and gulped half of it down.

"I don't plan on lecturing you." Hope stated right off, watching Rain seem to be moving around alright. Same as the last few times he's seen him. "If you had what I just went through, you have been yelled at enough. Why did you do it?" He asked, straight forward, wanting to hear it from Rain straight up rather than the rants of Light.

The pinkette sighed as he sat down, silent for a moment, just staring into his cup of coffee. He took a minute to finish his pear and toss the core away without getting up, then answered him as he continued to lower his gaze. "I couldn't live with any more guilt..." His hand tightened around Ashling's pendant. "You know how I was when Ash first died...It was either this or that all over again, take your pick."

Hope waited patiently for Rain to answer the question, watching his reflexes, movements. Anything that might show signs of damage to him. None seen so far, that was reassuring. Then when the answer came, the father got a thoughtful, remembering how everyone had handled that.

"I see." he replied, didn't criticize him. He didn't think it was the best move, but knew Rain well enough to believe that was the truth. Coincided with Light's information as well. "Sounds like something your mother would have done in a way. I think that was a part of the reason she got angry."

He paused for a moment before getting up to get another cup. "Another part of it is fear. One thing that might help to ease her is a few tests. Would you mind coming to the academy with me to make sure that this isn't going to harm you physically or mentally?"

"Yeah sure..." He finished his coffee, but didn't get up to put in the sink. Hope watched him stare at it, seemingly frustrated. "Any updates on the artificial one by chance?" He asked, annoyingly feeling the bandages.

"Thanks. You seem to be alright so far, and seeing that there won't be any other surprises coming from this should ease Light." He didn't think Rain wanted to know that he was worried as well. The subject change is welcome. "Nothing that you haven't heard unfortunately."

"Uh, yeah..." He sank down in his chair nervously, but Hope didn't think anything of it, just writing it off that his son was tired. "Right..." He said in response to him, sighing a bit. "Ready to go when you are I guess..."

* * *

The Goddess had heard her warrior's plea, sensing her many emotions within the pink haired soldier. It made her frown a bit, but the fal'Cie saw no problems with letting her into her unseen realm, leading her right to her throne.

"You wish to speak to me?" She asked politely, watching Lightning's eyebrows narrowed in a bit of a scowl.

"I want you to let Yeul go, free her from her 'blessing' and swear to me that there will be no more Seers."

That was a bit of an odd request coming from her chosen, but the pinkette continued before the Goddess had a chance to speak.

"You're eyes have caused nothing but trouble! Caius Ballad has been driven mad by seeing her die over and over again, and no one should have the endless fate of death and rebirth with such a burden of the eyes, and you had no right to give them to my sister!"

Her words were harsh, yet true. Etro may not have been human, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel emotions, she was far from cold and heartless. The moment Caius had turned against her she silently acknowledged that she had made a mistake, one that she regretted even more now that her warrior shoved it in her face.

"There's no more need for a Seeress. It's true that Yeul lead her nation of Paddra centuries ago with her so called 'gift' but those days are long over." Not to mention that Paddra had fallen due to her seeing the future, yet another tragedy that had been caused by the eyes.

"And as far as I can tell Goddess...My sister died for nothing." She spat, tone ice cold and her blue eyes burning with fury that masked her sadness and mourning, the emotions that she refused to show right now.

A soft sigh escaped the fal'Cie, lowering her head with regret, no motions that showed her lashing back at the soldier for her comments and remarks, for as far as she could tell Lightning was completely right…

Serah, oh she had taken pity on the girl. The little sister that got little attention from the sibling she looked up to, she had seen herself in her. The Goddess got no attention from her father Bhunivelze, and for so many years Lightning had unknowingly pushed her away. Then the young girl had been branded, the first step into Cocoon's fate and the day of Ragnarok. Serah receiving her eyes was nothing more than a side effect when she freed them all from their crystal stasis, but as time progressed and her journey through time began Etro was certain that they would aid her, so that's why she didn't remove the gift, but she never knew it would turn out like this in the end…

"Please forgive me for my mistakes my chosen, but I shall grant your request…Yeul shall be put to her peaceful rest at once."

"And Caius?"

"…I believe that she will be able to talk some sense into her guardian before she leaves him."

* * *

Rain had pretty much been silent the whole way there. He wasn't to fond of the idea of getting tested for whatever, but if it would calm his parents down then so be it. He sighed as they approached the massive building, brushing his bangs over his bandaged eye so he would hopefully not get started at. "Let's get this over with then..." he grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets as he followed his father.

"Yeah," Hope agreed to get it over with. He had an idea of what needed to be done, and talked about it on the way to the building. He wasn't looking forward to doing this... His son was not some lab rat...

"It shouldn't take too long anyways. You're not supposed to be doing anything heavy for a few weeks."

"I know, I know..." His training sessions with his mom had been put on hold of course, and that's what really bothered him. But of course if he just made his still healing injuries worse...He would just have to be patient.

"As long as I don't have to touch anything all touch screen, you know how those things hate me..." Then he chuckled. "Imagine if it got worse..."

"Yeah, I know. Just don't jinx yourself. More things are going to touch screens these days." He gave a faint smile while they walked past the front desk, not registering the good morning that the secretary gave. They headed to one of the private labs and disabled the cameras and anything that might be recording something.

"Might as well have a seat. You want something before we start?"

"I'm good." He stood to the side, waiting for instructions and tried not to touch anything. But his hand accidently brushed up against one of the computers when he moved, one of the evil touch screen ones of course. He wasn't paying attention, so he didn't notice the screen freeze and flicker. Then it shorted out entirely, which caught his attention and made him flinch. He stared at it, then glanced down at the paradox energy sparking at his fingertips. "Uh...That's new..."

"That's why it's important to back up all of your data..." That was defiantly new, paradox energy coming from Rain. In a way it didn't surprise Hope either. "I think we should get the worst thing over with. I would like to collect a sample of blood. While the computers analyze it, give you a cat scan." He wanted to get Rain's train of thought of that before he reached for anything.

Rain nodded, stepping away from the computers and kept his hands in his pockets. He looked away when it was time for Hope to take the samples he needed, flinching a bit when the felt the needles pierce his skin, but remained calm and still for both that and the cat scan. He was bored and a bit annoyed more than anything else...

When the machines had processed everything, Hope couldn't really think of anything else that could be done at the moment. He deactivated it but kept the data from both tests on the monitor. The machine would let Rain out and Hope smiled. Looking a lot less stressed out himself.

"You did pretty well. Would you like to look at the results?" The paradox energy effect on the broken machine didn't seem to be harmful to Rain, might test that again later if Rain is showing any undue stress levels. Then it would be a gamble more or less.

Rain nodded, sighing a bit as he walked over to the monitor, careful not to touch it. He looked at the blood results first, raising an eyebrow. "There's...Crystal in my bloodstream now?" He hand reached for his mark at once, feeling it underneath his shirt.

Hope nodded. "It appears to be nontoxic to you since you have that mark on your chest. I don't know yet, but the amounts of it that are in your bloodstream now don't seem to be having any bad effects on you. All that it means so far is that you can't donate blood."

"Noted..." He could live with no donating blood...But as he stared at the data few seconds longer and thought about it he reached a theory. "This stuff in my bloodstream is probably part of what's keeping me alive now...And that must mean that this crystal mark is merged than more than my skin?"

Hope nodded, that was true. For it to have gotten in the bloodstream, It would have had to be in contact with an organ associated with the cardiac system. "Yeah, which is you will look over there," he pointed to the cat scan data, showing his brainwaves and while he was at it, and Xray of the chest bone and it shown a model of the crystal around the heart. "You can see where the crystal is as solid and where it begins to act half like liquid. It's merged with your heart. I presume if you would have felt like you were having a heart attack, you would have told us about it."

"Yikes, but feel fine, really. Nothing unusual so far..."

His head snapped up when he saw a figure walk in...Gun in hand. His eyes widened at once. "Dad look out!" He tried to push him away as he reached for that power, mark glowing. "Oh Godess Etro please grant me thy strength…" He whispered, having only used this abilitt once, and by pure accident, but even so he knew what to do. A wave of his hand and the bullets that the man fired stopped in midair, paradox energy sparking at his fingertips once more, but he couldn't hold it much longer...

Meanwhile Hope had reached in the back for his boomerang while wondering about the chaos effect. From Rain to the assassin and the bullet midair. Before he grabbed the weapon, he dove to try to make it to Rain in time, not wanting to bury another child.

Rain had tried to get out the way as he released the spell, unable to hold it any longer. However as he dropped one bullet hit him square in the chest, right on his mark. He cried out at once, clutching his chest as he felt the crystal inside him constrict his heart for a moment while the pain spread...

No blood, not even a scratch on the mark, but it hurt like hell...

Hope held a look of horror on himself when he realized he needed to deal with his assassin rather than make sure Rain was alright. He reached for his boomerang for a moment, realizing that wouldn't do much good. The pistol he kept was in his desk drawer. No time... The pistol from the assassin was trained on him when the computers spiked from paradox energy.

Light was furious as she stepped through the portal. She was aware that an assassin was trying to take Hope's life, and wasn't going to let him die again! Her weapon was already in its gun form trained on the would be assassin. There was no time to question disarming, not with the gun already taking aim.  _BAM!_  She took her shot, aiming at the target's head.

Rain flinched when he heard the gun shot echo. It was his turn to panic, thinking Hope had been hit. He reached for his gunblade as he bolted up, only to see the assassin drop dead and Light in the room. He breathed a sigh of relief, hand releasing his weapon. Breathe, just breathe...He flinched from the pain, but glanced up at Lightning with a soft smile. "Great timing mom." Vision was blurring...He'd be passing out from that spell soon...

"Rain!"

He saw a blur of his mother cross the floor to get to him as he fell, feeling Hope catch him gently, both his parents glancing him over for any injuries.

"How does it feel Rain?"

The portal was closing, but the machines would take a minute to return to what they were. The evidence of the tests were lost on the screen, and the flash drive that they were on were broken.

In reality, the pain was enough to make him want to curl in a ball and cry, but he fought against that. "I'm alright...That spell just saps my energy that's all..." Another deep breath to keep himself calm as he lifted his shirt, showing them both that he was completely unscathed and the mark had returned to it's normal glow.

He knew it wouldn't be long before he passed out, but he felt himself being moved, his mother taking him out of Hope's arms and holding him close."I am happy you two are safe."

Rain grumbled a bit, feeling like he was being treated like a child. But he understood where she was coming from, so let it be with a soft sigh. "I need to rest..." He couldn't fight of his exhaustion any longer. He closed his eyes, falling asleep in her arms like that partially snuggled against her, breathing returning to normal after a couple minutes.

Hope watched Light pull Rain close to her. Holding their son. It looked like the most natural thing in the world if you don't think about how reserved she is/was. Was this usual or has she been reacting under stress. Just how much has she changed over the years? She's still the same Light he know, he believed. Even if she changed, he would still love her. He looked away, trying to decide if he should tell her or would it be too much. Hope watched Rain, standing up.

"We can either take him home or find a place he can rest here. I can let you know of how the results... went."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just…Haven’t been up for writing lately outside of tumblr. Had to force myself to finally finish this damn chapter, because goddess I just wanna be done! Two chapters left, and I swear I was going to write a nice feelsy scene with all the Yeuls saying goodbye to Caius in here and how he wanted to atone…But. I. Can’t. Yeul. I’ve tried, really have annnnd it’s not pretty *bangs head on wall and sobs*


	19. XVI Decisions

 

"Alright..." Lightning muttered as she folded her arms and paced around the living room in front of everyone. "I've talked to Etro, Caius has been dealt with...Which means its time for me to decide..."

 

The Estheims were silent as she spoke, eyes watching as she paced back and forth. It was only natural that Hope was bitting his lip and fliddling with his hands nervously, while Rain had his arms folded in a glare and Faith was snuggled with Mog. 

 

“Claire...” Cloud said after a sigh, breaking the silence. “I just want you to be happy, no matter what your decision is.”

She sighed, looking at him sadly. "I'm glad you feel that way..." She hugged him, then slid off her wedding ring and placed it in his hand. "I'm going back with Hope..."

Rain and Hope both sighed softly from relief as they sat on the couch.

“I respect your desicion, but I will never forget you, Im very grateful for having meet you claire.” A sigh escped the blonde, trying his best to smile softly as he turned to Hope. “You are a lucky man you know?”

"Thanks..." Hope muttered, scratching the back of his head. "No hard feelings?"

“Yeah...She was rightfully yours first after all.”

"I won't forget you either Cloud, I swear..." Light suddenly interupted, sighing as she embraced him one last time, then turned and did the same to Rainbow.

“I hope you'll still be happy mom.” Was the young woman's response, tightly hugging her back. “I love you, you are the best.”

"I love you too Rainbow." She kissed her forehead. "I'm sure you'll continue to grow up to be big and strong...If you become a soldier, please be careful..."

As Rain watched the conversation go on, he decided to slip out for a bit, muttering to his dad that he would say goodbyes later when they were all at the gate. Jivana was on his mind, for he hadn't seen her all day.

"Where is she?" He whispered to himself as he walked around the village, glancing around for the familair blonde hair right and left. No sign of her inside the village, so he cautiously wandered a few yards outside of it, sighing from relief when he finally caught sight of her on the rocks looking out at the landscape.

"There you are." He said with a smile, catching her attention as she turned to face him. "You ok?"

“I don't know... You're gonna back to your universe, right?”

"Yeah." A nod as he sat down next to her. "And moms coming back too..."

“I see...But she's married to Cloud too right?”

"Yeah...I'm sure she has devorce papers or something ready...I don't know." A shake of his head, hadn't really bothered to ask or stick around for that much, and for the most part he didn't really care anymore anyway. She was coming back with them to be a proper family, that's what mattered in the end.

“I see...I dont understand.”

"Yeah marriage is complicated adult stuff." He joked.

“Yeah, and all the things about 'love', I don't understand it.”

That made him bite his lip for a moment, slowly and gently reaching for her hand."I don't get it all either...I mean a month ago you were trying to kill me, and now look at me..." Another sigh. "If you come with us, maybe we could figure it out together..."

“...No thanks.”

The blunt and almost cold rejection was a slap to the face and a knife to his heart both at once, making him frown as he slowly pulled his hand away.

"Why?"

“I don't wanna risk it.”

"A lot of things in life are risky, and yet people go through with them."

No response from her.

"Do you even have a plan if you stay here?"

“No.”

Now that just made him grumbled and rub his forehead, trying to get his thoughts in order and reminding himself that he had gave his life to this girl...He had to at least try, and he had one more idea up his sleeve.

"Will you come with me for a minute then? I wanna try convincing you one last time. After that if you still don't want to I'll leave and you'll never have to see me again."

“...Alright.”

He took her hand and pulled her up, then texted Nora with his free hand. When talking to his cousin a while back, he had learned that Claire played a bit of guitar too, so he asked to barrow hers as he walked towards their house. Nora was outside with it when they got there.

"No idea what you're up to but here, ill want it back though."

He nodded as he took the guitar, then watched her go back inside as he sat down on the porch.

“What you doing?” Jivana asked, taking a seat across from him.

"Something I haven't done in a long time..." He muttered, fiddling with the cords to get it in tune. "I have a song I want to play for you, a song that I think fits pretty well..."

“You sing?”

He blushed. "A bit..."

“Okay, I wanna listen.”

He nodded nervously, then began slowly and calmly playing the song for her, letting the tune carry him, and the words flow out perfectly with his feelings. 

“When I see your smile  
Tears run down my face I can't replace  
And now that I'm stronger I've figured out  
How this world turns cold and breaks through my soul  
And I know I'll find deep inside me I can be the one  
  
I will never let you fall  
I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all  
Even if saving you sends me to heaven  
  
It's okey. It's okey. It's okey.  
Seasons are changing  
And waves are crashing  
And stars are falling all for us  
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter  
I can show you I'll be the one  
  
I will never let you fall __  
I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all  
Even if saving you sends me to heaven  
  
Cause you're my, you're my, my true love, my whole heart  
Please don't throw that away  
Cause I'm here for you  
Please don't walk away,  
Please tell me you'll stay more, stay more  
  
Use me as you will  
Pull my strings just for a thrill  
And I know I'll be ok  
Though my skies are turning gray  
  
I will never let you fall  
I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all  
Even if saving you sends me to heaven...”  
  
  


Silence came as he finished, gently setting the guitar down beside him as blush creeped into his cheeks, unable to make eyecontact. 

"I really hope that wasn't to cheesy..."

A chuckle and soft smile came from her, shaking her head, and seeming to be impressed at the very least. That was enough for him to look back up to her, sensing some hope in this relationship after all. 

“...Okay, I'll go with you, but if you hurt me I will kill you.” There was a brief glare from her that said she was serious, sending a shiver up and down Rain's spine. 

"Yeeeeah I kinda figured that much..." 

“Alright then, let's go.”

"Yeah." He stood up, and took her hand as they walked towards the gate, taking their time knowing that Lightning was likely taking hers with saying goodbye to everyone. "I promise you won't regret this..."

“For your sake.”

He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"But you're willing to give me a chance? Boyfriend and girlfriend...?"

“Hmm... Yeah, I'll give you a chance.”

"Thanks." He kissed her cheek. "Well make this work, somehow..." Then he pulled her through the gate, the first ones to go through before his parents and sister.

* * *

 

While the young couple shared their moments, Ashling was busy silently watching over the rest of him. She watched as Lightning said her goodbyes to Cloud and Rainbow, giving her pink haired daughter her lightning bolt shaped necklace as a memento, promising to never forget either of them, and wishing them well. The three of them helped her pack a bag, mainly of a few family pictures, taking their time...

She then silently followed all of them to the gate, seeing Rain and Jivana slip through before everyone else, followed by Lightning, Hope, and Faith. A sigh escaped the young spirit as the gate closed and dematerialzed into thin air. There was a little tug on her soul a few moments later, but instead of whimpering in pain like she usually did, a smile crossed her face.

She could finally move on now. 

"Goodbye everyone." She whispered as she faded into the unseen realm, even though there wasn't anyone else around to see or hear her for the last time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys...Have no idea how so fucking done I am with this story mentally >_> I swear my writing's slipping, and if I wasn't so close to being done with this one I would've honestly just dropped and deleted it. I have a pretty good feeling that this chapter is crap, but honestly I'm to the “I give no fucks” point, and will do my best to just tie up the rest of the loose ends nicely in the epilogue...


	20. Epilogue:  534 AF

“Great, now I feel old.”

 

Rain chuckled at his mother's reaction, adjusting his hold on his infant daughter in his arms, rocking the little blonde to sleep.

 

“Oh come on Mom, Jivana and I have been married for five years. Surely you knew that you'd be a grandma at some point.”

 

It was quite true. After Rain had welcomed his beloved into the future world, he was there to help her get settled. The Estheims enrolled her in highschool, and between taking a few college classes of his own, Rain was beside her to help her gain the knowledge she needed. A year later he finally had both parents approval to join the Guardian Corps in the Academy Security Regiment, and once Jivana was of legal age she followed him. Their relationship held steadily for a couple years before Rain popped the question, and after a long engagement they were happy newly weds.

 

“Even so, 'Grandma' is not something I look forward to hearing.” She sighed and plucked a gray hair out of her head as she spoke, making Rain snicker even more. “Quiet or I'll make you check for more of them.”

 

An eye roll and sigh escaped from her son, knowing all to well that she was pretty serious...For that eye implant he had gotten all those years ago couldn't be more perfect in terms of vision.

 

Silence fell the two of them, and with a sigh Rain watched his mother move to the kitchen to prepare some tea. He blinked a few times as he watched her, having a feeling that something was up. So he gave his little sleeping infant daughter a kiss on the forehead before setting her down in the very baby basket he had stopped by to pick up.

 

“Something wrong mom?” He asked, taking a seat across from her at the table.

 

“It's just hard to believe that it's been over ten years now...” She said softly, sighing and shaking her head while keeping her gaze low.

 

“I get it..Thinking about everyone on the other side...” He guessed, receiving a light chuckle in return as his mother glanced up with a soft smile.

 

“You know your mom all to well Rain, guess you get that from Hope.”

 

Though out the years his anger towards her had subsided, any blame, and even his guilt was gone. The mother and son bond had returned. She was there to help him with his training, as well as his growing career in the Guardian Corps. It was because of her that he was motivated to slowly make his way through the ranks, now becoming a lieutenant.

 

“I'm sure everyone's just fine you know. Rainbow's got some strong Farron blood running through her.”

 

“That she does.” She agreed with a soft proud smile. “She and Storm have probably taken the same path that you have, watching out for each other as they protect others.”

 

“And Cloud keeps the boys away.” He joked, making them both chuckle for a few moments, but silently he was hoping that his little sister had eventually found love. “Nora's probably continued to move on as well...Find love as well as some way she could honor her sister's memory...”

 

A hand gently reached up and clasped Ashling's pendent for a moment, hoping that his cousin had finished mourning her beloved twin like he had. Of course he still visited his sister's grave from time to time, just so she knew that he would never forget her.

 

“And who knows...Maybe Serah and Snow had another kid to help heal everyone's hearts...” Lightning mused, sipping her tea a bit while her son just blinked at the suggestion.

 

“You really think so?”

 

“I can see them doing so. New life seems to make everyone happy, and Snow always did want his 'big happy family'.”

 

“I suppose I can see that then...” Rain said with a shrug, thinking back to his other cousin Kristof. He couldn't say that he had seen him much since he was busy finishing up high school, and the teen hadn't really spoken about his future goals. But surely he would figure it out someday, and his family and loved ones would all be there to help him if needed.

 

And there was no need to worry about Faith either. With Lightnings help she eventually did learn how to properly defend herself and gave some independence. Then once she was done with school it was into the Academy at once, and she had slowly worked her way up since.

 

“Well then...” A pause as he sank back into his chair with a sigh and took a sip of his own tea. “What about Caius?”

 

“Well the Goddess and the world are still standing so that's a good thing...” But of course that was just Lightning pointing out the obvious. “I imagine that Etro allowed all the Yeuls to speak to him before they were sent to rest peacefully...Convince him that his ways were wrong.”

 

“And he's going to spend the rest of Eternity repenting...” Rain finished.

 

“Something like that. Probably making sure that no one else out there repeats his mistakes, harms the time lines or the Goddess.”

 

“And so everyone gets their happy ending.” Rain said with a nod, finishing his tea.

 

“There's no such things as happy endings Rain. Only in kids stories.”

 

“Happy ending, light at the end of the tunnel. Call it what you will, but you can't deny that it's happened mom...You just can't.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was going to have two different scenes, one for each world...But couldn't really do that without my partner so I had to make due with this. And I did think about most of this conversation being Light and Hope, but then just changed my mind.
> 
> AND WITH THAT I AM DONE AND CAN MOVE ON TO WRITING OTHER CRAP *Flops over to sleep since it's 3am *

**Author's Note:**

> Ok here we go. First, I've been working on this fic since last June o_e
> 
> Second, this is actually a partner fic with ClaireStrife (which is why its taken so long) So Kristof is her OC, and is pretty much the reason why there's any NoelxSerah in this at all. SnowxSerah will be in here to, as well as some CloudxLightning. How that works? Well just wait and see is all I'll say XD
> 
> Rain, Ashling, and Faith are all my OCs, and thanks to both PSP Gamer Girl and PuppyNoelle betaing.


End file.
